Dolce Bambina
by hoard-of-stars
Summary: The life of Bianca Kayla Maria di Angelo-Solace and the life she leads as a daughter of Demeter struggling to balance her demigod and mortal lives. Being a demigod is hard enough without blackmailing creeps and trying to protect her family, but one thing's for sure. Will, Nico, the rest of the seven, Reyna and Grover will always have her back. Rated M, language, abusive themes.
1. Daughter of Demeter

Nico's POV

I took a deep breath as I pushed open the glass double doors of the newly founded Demigod Orphanage. It was founded for demigod infants/children who had abusive/dead/unstable mortal parents and/or godly parents who couldn't "interfere with their children's' lives." My Stygian iron sword clanked against the glass and Will's bow snapped back in Leo's face. Will squeezed my hand reassuringly and linked his arm in mine.

 _Today was the day. We were finally going to become parents._

We had promised each other not to give away our name suggestions. For both of us, it had boiled down to two names; a boys name and a girls name. Today was the day our lives would change forever.

Of course, Will and I weren't allowed to do this on our own. We were flanked by Percy, Leo, Calypso, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, and even Reyna, who had dropped everything and insisted upon coming with us. Percy was hyperventilating and leaning on Annabeth, who rolled her eyes. "Annabeth, I'm not ready for this. This is such a huge step, a huge milestone in our lives- what if I can't do it? What if I fail? I can barely take care of myself, let alone a tiny, fragile baby!" He started breathing into a paper bag. " _I'M NOT READY TO BE A FATHER YET!"_ Annabeth sighed. "This isn't even your baby, Percy." She shook her head, annoyed. "This is Will and Nico's baby!" "Oh, puh- _lease_ , Annabeth, this is everyone's baby!" Percy exclaimed dramatically. I glanced at our group. Calypso was giggling at something Leo had said about Percy's outburst, Jason was whispering about how he was so proud of us and swelling with pride, while Piper smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and handed him a pack of tissues. Hazel and Frank just looked plain overjoyed. "Uncle Frank and Auntie Hazel." I had winked at the two when I first broke the news of us adopting. (Naturally, Hazel was the first person I told, along with Frank.) Reyna smiled appreciatively as I glanced at her. She gave me a swift thumbs up and practically shoved me and Will up to the front desk.

"Names?" The receptionist asked without glancing up. "William and Nico di Angelo-Solace" Will stated. "Godly parents?" The receptionist replied without batting an eyelid. "Son of Apollo and son of Hades respectively." I answered swiftly. The receptionist glanced at an open binder next to her and finally looked up. She smiled, but her eyes were cold, looking at my sword in obvious distaste. Will sensed it too, because he stiffened next to me. "Misters di Angelo-Solace, you have been pre-approved, correct?" Will and I both nodded. It was true; we had been pre approved to see if we were fit to have a child in our house. "Are you all a group?" She seemed to have just noticed the 7 plus Calypso and Reyna. "We're tagging along for moral support, lady. Enough of the questions!" Leo complained, and Calypso elbowed him in the side. The receptionist raised a brow, but led us into the next room. Will was bouncing nervously on his heels and twiddling his fingers, glancing at me and at the floor, at his hands, the ceiling, everywhere. "Infant or child? Any godly parent preferences?" the receptionist asked indifferently. "Erm, we were thinking an infant. We weren't considering any specific gender." Will responded absentmindedly. "Of any godly parent is fine. Except, of course, Apollo or Hades." I added. "Though it would be weird if the kid were a child of any of your guy's parents." I directed the last comment towards our friends. "Okay, Misters Solace and di Angelo, you may see the children in this room." The receptionist said. "When you have made a decision, bring the child out and you may fill out the paperwork." Will drew his breath. "Come on, Solace." I half-smirked. "Today will be the day our lives will change for the better." And he followed me into the room.

There were so many babies in one room! I mean, SOOOO many babies. Children of every god/goddess imaginable. Will practically dragged me along. "Nico, Neeks, look!" He pointed excitedly at every cradle. "Calm yourself, William." I laughed. Will let go of my hand and wandered over to a son of Hermes and tickled him under the chin. I didn't pay much attention until Will exclaimed in alarm a few moments later. I bolted over to find Will fishing around in the child's mouth and pulling his golden wedding band out of it. He slipped it on his finger, shook his head slightly, and moved away. "I don't have anything against him, but he would get into a lot of trouble." he muttered to me. I strayed over to a cradle hosting a child of Hecate. I picked her up and she looked at me. I looked at her. She looked at me. Then she smacked my face and started shrieking.

The child went back in the cradle.

This went on for a while. "Will, I'm kinda starting to think there's no kid here for us." I murmured, clasping his hand and intertwining our fingers."Don't say that." he said quietly. "There's got to be one. I know it, Neeks. I just know it. Come on." He placed a soft kiss on my cheek, almost barely noticeable. To passersby he might've been whispering in my ear. At that moment, the door swung open. An employee walked in carrying a baby swaddled in a pale, buttery yellow blanket with lightly embroidered silvery patterns on one edge. The baby was squirming and having a fit. He settled the baby inside her cradle with a bottle and other necessities, then left. Will basically dragged me over there. "Calm down, lightbulb!" I groaned, rubbing my sore arm. I read the label on her cradle; she was a child of Demeter. Well, I thought, this would be awkward between Persephone, Demeter, and me. Will was bent over the crib, beaming and peering into the little face. He was practically glowing. The daughter of Demeter stayed quiet for a second as Will picked her up and started walking in circles, saying over-brightly," Hello, sunshine! I'm Will, and that cuddly ball of death over there is Nico!" Then she started wailing, face reddening. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. Will looked on the verge of tears as he tried calming her. I emerged from my shadowy corner and plucked the child from Will's arms and started whispering the jumbled lyrics to some of my favorite songs. The baby girl quieted and stared into my eyes, her own solemn, deep blue-mixed-with-black pupils sparkling. She had feathery, soft black hair and pale skin with freckles splashed across her nose. I finished the last few words of the chorus to _Surefire_ by John Legend and smiled. She smiled back.

"There now, _bambina_ , that wasn't so hard now. I apologize for William. He can be overbearing, but he just likes you. Something I can relate to." I spoke gruffly. "Will, come here." I called. He laughed bitterly from the floor. "And unleash the apocalypse?" he asked, hanging his head. "I don't think so." "You _idiota ipocrita_ , get your rear over here before I have to drag you up myself." Will grudgingly obliged. I could almost see our everyone's noses pressed against the glass as they watched the scene unfold. " _Dolce bambina_ here was just tense. You freaked her out with your overbearing happiness. She had nothing against you." I quickly added as a plus. I passed the baby over to Will, who held the child against his chest. "Sorry about earlier." he whispered, low-keying the brightness of his tone. He was silent for a moment, then said," You have really pretty eyes, you know that, right?" The baby took his finger and held it, settling into the blankets. He drew a breath and stiffened. I started humming _Surefire_ again and for a few minutes, it was just the three of us, standing there, and for those few minutes, time stood still. I felt so whole, if that's how you would describe this. Complete.

I glanced at Will and he glanced at me. He raised an eyebrow and I nodded. He handed the child to me, and I whispered," _Dolce bambina,_ if you'll have us, it would be our honour to be your fathers." The baby smiled and gurgled, touching my face with her tiny hand. I slowly returned the gesture. "And now, for the bane of my existence." Will announced, kicking the doors open. "Paperwork."

The child was passed on to the girls (since they were more coordinated than Leo, Percy, Frank, and Jason combined, and also cause the guys left to find a dam snack bar) while Will and I filled out the paperwork. That was expected. What we did NOT expect was our receptionist lady to turn into a flying, spitting demon and start ripping the paperwork to shreds. I drew my sword and Will notched an arrow. I yelled at Annabeth to take the kid and hide with the girls- which she promptly ignored. She gave the baby to Calypso while she, Piper, Hazel, and Reyna busted out the _touch the godsforsaken child or nice guys who just want a family and we will rip out your eyes and shove them in your ears so you can see how stupid you sound_ sparring. Let's just say the receptionist lady was literal dust within 3 minutes by the hands Fantastic (Female!) Four.

"The intensity of that attack was scary and somewhat disturbing." Will mumbled, a little freaked out. I kissed him to shut him up. The guys came back with Calypso and the kid, Jason stuffing Cheez-Its in his mouth and asking," What'd we miss?" "A wicked battle." Hazel examined her nails and blew a puff of hair out of her face. "Can we go before we get attacked again?" I whined, already halfway down the hall. As Reyna gave the long-story-short of what happened, we went to the front desk and explained the attack. I redid the paperwork as Will sorted out the technicalities. Finally, after about an hour, they dropped the bomb.

"What will you name her? Needs to go on paperwork." My husband and I glanced at each other. "You have your choice?" He nodded. "You?" I nodded back. "I did some research… won't say by what means, but in the end I decided on Bianca." I choked on air. "How the hell do you know about Bianca?" I said between retches. "Hey, Annabeth, I'm getting kinda thirsty, wanna come to the snack bar with me?" Percy proposed quickly."Sit _down,_ Jackson!" I growled. The baby started fussing in Piper's arms. She quickly gave her to Will. I looked up at Will, ready to scream at him in the middle of the orphanage for prying into my very _PERSONAL_ past, when I saw how his eyes were shining as he gazed down into my face (damn you, high difference!) and bounced the baby on his knee. "It's… really perfect." I wound up mumbling. And it was. "So, my ray of darkness, what did you choose for your name?" "Kayla." Will's eyes widened. "Nico-" I clapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up. "I- I _owe_ her, Will. It's the least and probably the most I could do at this point." I hung my head. "You have to understand that." Will hesitated. "Fine. But no guilt-tripping yourself after this. Doctor's orders." I cracked a smile. "And, it just occurred to me now, but how about also…"

I leant over and whispered the name in his ear. Will's eyes lit up and he nodded. I took a deep breath and peered down into my daughter's sweet little face, her eyes sparkling at me.

"Hello, Bianca Kayla Maria di Angelo-Solace."


	2. Author's Note!

****

**Hello, all! I know I said this would be a one-shot or it currently is a one-shot, but the story got me intrigued. I started thinking up potentials plots for what would happen in Bianca's later life. A lot of it will happen in 5th grade through 12th grade. I have a lot of ideas I'm hoping to try out, and I hope you guys and girls will like it :)**

 **Kudos to you all,**

 **WatermelonCharms**


	3. My Name

**jjmmmmmmmm  
** For reasons none of the demigods could understand, Bianca Kayla Maria di Angelo-Solace absolutely adored her Uncle Leo. When she had one of her fits, Uncle Leo and his stupid jokes and lame tricks were the only thing that could calm her. She chose playing with Uncle Leo over playing with any of her cousins, and she had quite a lot to choose from. _(Luke, Charlie, and Zoë Jackson, Crystal Zhang, Jackie and Tom Grace, and Esperanza Valdez)_

It wasn't as if Leo didn't adore her back. He did. He loved singing loudly and horribly to her as she screeched along, and he loved babysitting her when nobody else could (and even when everybody else would.) He loved setting his hair on fire for her enjoyment and forging incredibly complex gifts for her and, later, pranking everybody with the combined power of his own mischief making and Bianca's evil genius.

When I was maybe four or five, I found out what my name meant. It seems like such a small thing, finding out what one's name means, but having that tidbit of knowledge shaped my decisions for my perilous future.

I was a rebellious child, often getting into mischief and acting out. I just couldn't understand why Papa and Dad seemed so upset when I did. One day, after a particularly extreme incident, Papa knelt down in front of me, shaking his head sadly.

"Bianca Kayla Maria di Angelo-Solace, you were named after three remarkable women your dad and I knew. You were named after them to honour their memory, and acting out in such extremes is more of a disgrace to their memories than an honour."

At the time, my name didn't mean anything to me. As far as I was concerned, they were just three dead people whose names I was burdened with, and I had stubbornly told my parents that. Papa looked stricken, and Dad's eyes blazed.

"That is enough, young lady! Your namesakes were people who cared more about the wellbeing and safety of others more than they did their own, and for that belief they lost their lives!"

He probably would have berated me for longer, but I was sick of being told to behave for the sake of dead people I knew nothing about.

I yelled," I don't even know who these people are, or what they did!"

Papa had put his hand on Dad's shoulder. "Will, she's right. She doesn't know. She doesn't know anything. We have to tell her."

And so we all sat at the kitchen table. My stomach churned as they began to talk.

"I once had a sister before your Auntie Hazel. My blood sister. Her name was Bianca." He paused and took a deep, shuddering breath, then continued. "Before I knew I was a demigod, Bianca was my only family. She was my best friend, my mother, my big sister. My protector, my supporter, my role model. My family."

"When we first discovered we were demigods, we ran into some trouble with a manticore. We were saved by Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia and-" Papa's face hardened and his eyes darkened. "The Hunters of Artemis."

He broke off and Dad continued the story. "Bianca joined them after the rescue, apparently wishing to not have to be the older sister all the time. Be that as it may, she went on a quest with Zoë Nightshade, the lieutenant of the Hunters, Thalia, Percy, and Grover. She died to protect her friends on that quest." Papa's hand went to his pocket and he pulled out a small figurine.

"My last gift from Bianca." He whispered hoarsely. "The reason she died." He gingerly placed the figurine in my palm and closed my fist around it.

"I had a sister, too." Dad's voice sounded faraway. "She was an extremely talented archer, and she had a shock of green hair that was as obnoxious as she could be. She accompanied your Papa on a quest. Her name was Kayla." Dad's voice quieted as he was, no doubt, remembering."

"Kayla volunteered to go on a quest with me for Grandfather Hades. We-we ran into some trouble with twin giants in the Sahara. In the end, they got her. She broke away from me at the last second of our shadow travel, knowing that transporting the both of us might have killed me. I went back for her body." Papa choked suddenly. "I- I couldn't leave her. _Not there._ " His eyes were brimming with tears. "We had a burial at the campfire for her. She was a hero."

"Papa's mother was a selfless woman named Maria. When Bianca and Papa were born, your grandfather didn't want Zeus' wrath about the prophecy to be inflicted upon them, so he offered to take them to the Underworld where nobody could harm them. She refused, saying she did not want to raise her children in such a place. She left for just a minute to retrieve an item, and Zeus exploded the hotel. Grandfather Hades protected Bianca and Papa, but it was too late for Maria." Dad looked like he had aged a million years.

"Bianca Kayla Maria di Angelo-Solace, you were named for your late Aunt Bianca, who died to protect her friends. For your late Aunt Kayla, who died to spare the life of somebody she barely knew. And finally, for your Grandmother Maria, who died because she refused a life, however safe it may have been, that she didn't want her children to have. Please- honour your namesakes so that they wouldn't have died in vain, so that they'd be _proud_ of you and the person you'd become. They didn't give their lives for no reason, Bianca." Papa grasped my hand and locked eyes with me.

And that was something I never forgot.


	4. Helios and the Boy Across the Street

Growing up, I loved Uncle Leo for reasons nobody else could understand. He was fun, and didn't mind getting into a little mischief. Plus, he always caught Papa and Dad's embarrassing moments on tape. I couldn't understand why my aunts and uncles and parents thought he was immature. Luke, Charles, Bob, and Zoë Jackson, Crystal, Amber, and Jasper Zhang, Jackie and Tom Grace, and Esperanza Valdez, my cousins, all thought he was really awesome too, and Uncle Leo thought so too.

But I knew he liked me best.

How did I know? On my twelfth birthday, he invited me to learn how to forge. That was a big thing. "But ask your Papa's permission!" He told me, patting my back. "Papa, Papa, Papa!" I rushed up to his bedside. He had lazily opened one eye. "Huh?" "Can I learn forgery from Uncle Leo?" "Yeah, sure… just don't-" he yawned. "-do anything too dangerous." And fell back asleep.

And so our project began.

We started out with a big project. Go big or go home, right? We started with an animal companion for me, like Uncle Leo had Festus. "I guess it's a big project, but if I help you, it should turn out fine. What animal do you want? A dog, maybe a cat, right?" "A griffin!" I jumped in the air excitedly, the lug wrench in the front pocket of my overalls falling onto the grass.

"I like the way you think, squirt." Uncle Leo grinned. "Let's get started!"

And here we were, six weeks later, putting the final touches onto the golden griffin. "I'm gonna call him Helios, Uncle Leo!" I straightened out a dent in the metal with a large hammer. Travis and Connor, who were visiting us to catch up, both jumped five feet in the air as a bang echoed through the yard. "Why not Apollo, squirt?" Uncle Leo laughed while tinkering with the control panel. I furrowed my brow. "Papa said that Grandpa Hades and Grandpa Apollo would get into a huge fight over that one. So I chose a sun god even better than Apollo!" The sky thundered and boomed. "Sorry, Grandfather Zeus!" I called up, annoyed. "Okay, squirt, you put the finishing touches on the griffin hull while I go get us some of Calypso's lemonade." He winked and strode off towards the house.

I saw the dark coloured sphere before Uncle Leo did, about a meter away from Travis and Connor. "Uncle Leo, take cover!" I shouted just as he stumbled over the sphere and the yard exploded. I curled into a ball as I felt myself being catapulted into the air, using the tuck and roll tactic Aunt Piper taught me. I sailed out of the open gate and crumpled to the floor as my body came into contact with another figure.

Probably a person, I thought numbly as I shook my head to try to get my ears to stop ringing. I faintly heard Uncle Leo shouting," _TRAVIS, CONNOR!_ " And their laughs as Uncle Leo chased them with a pair of thick pliers. "Did you two blow up my yard, again?!" Papa's voice came, annoyed and exasperated.

"Oh shit!" I realized the person who I had hit was lying on the sidewalk, dazed. "I'm so sorry about that, are you okay?" I helped him to his feet as he groaned slightly and shook his head, his brown hair swayed slightly. "Geez- do yards always explode around here?" I said nothing for a minute.

"Nope. That's just my yard, and mostly it only happens on weekends when my Uncle and I are working on a project." I slapped my forehead as I remembered Helios. "Oh, gods…" I grumbled. "Uncle Leo, is Helios okay?" I shouted. "He's fine! The explosion actually powered up the control panel!" Uncle Leo's voice sounded a little crazed and very giddy. "It should be powering on in three, two one…"

The boy and I stared at the yard as a heap of golden metal rose from the charred grass. It stretched like a cat, opened its beak and yawned, then made its way over to me and lay down at my feet. "You- you made that?" The boy sounded amazed. "Yeah, my uncle and I made it together. Are you new around here? Most of the neighbors are familiar with my supernova screw ups." I pulled a greasy rag from my overalls front pocket and wiped my forehead with it, shoving the other hand in my side pocket.

"Yeah, actually. Moved in across the street just yesterday, Number 276." He hesitated. "What's your name?"

"First name or full?" "Meh… to heck with it, full name."

"Bianca Kayla Maria di Angelo-Solace. But you can call me Bianca. You?" I knelt down to pet Helios' head, as the boy responded," Gabriel Warren Dawson. Just- call me Gabe."

"Okay… Gabe." Just then, Dad's supersonic whistle echoed across the street. I buckled down and plugged my ears. "What the actual hell, Dad?!" He gave me a look, and Papa sighed. "Bianca… you promised to help regrow the lawn in case of any more accidents with your projects!" I sighed, annoyed. "Well, gotta go. See you around, Gabe?" "Definitely." He responded, nodding.

He was just turning around as a door opened across the street and a girl stepped out onto the porch. "Gabriel!" Gabe winced. "Yeah, Vicky?" he called back.

"Denise, Riley, Kate, June, Mom, Dad, and I have been waiting for you for over half an hour! What have you been doing?"

A look of panic crossed his face as he checked his watch. Helios stirred at my feet as the girl, Vicky, stormed down the steps and across the street, and promptly slapped Gabe across the face. My blood started boiling. "Excuse me, would you please leave?" I said with all the politeness I could muster. "It is not _right_ to hit other people. Or do we need to go back to kindergarten?" "Who're you?" She asked obnoxiously, looking at me with distaste.

"A girl who's been living here on this very street, in this very house, all her life, punk. A girl who has two dads, five uncles, five badass aunts, ten cousins, and two brothers who've saved more lives than you've tried lip gloss flavours and will not hesitate to kick your sorry ass with me leading the charge!" I growled back. Helios stood up and hissed at her, spikes protruding from his tail as it angrily lashed back and forth. Vicky shrieked. "What is that thing?!"

"That _thing_ is my companion who I have slaved over forging for six weeks, who has imprinted upon me. Helios will not hesitate to rip apart anybody who bothers me, my family, or my friends. All he needs is my word. One word is all it takes. So I suggest you let Gabe get to know his new neighborhood while you skedaddle along." "That isn't important. Stay out of family matters. Besides, is nobody going to talk about your faggot freaks of parents?" Helios screeched and lunged but I grabbed his tail and held him back. Then I looked Vicky in the eye, smiled sweetly, and my fist made contact with her face.

 _CRUNCH!_

I gave her my best murderous glare as she yelped. "Get off my property, or I'll sic Helios on you. Leave. Now." She ran across the street, clutching at her face, yelling," You'll pay for this, freak!"

"I'm really sorry about that." I mumbled to Gabe, who was wide eyed and in awe.. "You kidding? It was awesome!" He smiled brightly. "Vicky needs to be put in her place sometimes. My other sisters, June, Kate, Denise, and Riley are quadruplets and we all hate her so much. This'll be rich to tell them. I really should be going. Bye Bianca. Bye, Helios!"

I offered a small wave as he ducked in between two parked cars, looked left and right, and ran into his house.

That night Dad got a phone call.

"Yes, of course, I'm so sorry, Logan. I really cannot begin to explain how embarrassed I am. She should know better. We could pay for the hospital bill. I'll send her over to apologize few minutes. Yes, thank you. Good bye."

Papa sighed. "Bianca Kayla Maria di Angelo-Solace!" he yelled. _Uh oh._ "Yes, Papa?" I called from the stairs as my cousins patted me on the back sympathetically. "Come down here right now!"

I trudged down the stairs with my head up and my back straight. Dad rubbed his temples. "Mr Logan Dawson who recently moved in across the street just phoned to tell us you made his son late talking to him outside the house, cursed out his daughter who came to retrieve their son, and then punched her in the face, thereby breaking her nose. What do you have to say for yourself, young lady? Honestly, we raised you better than this! What would your Aunts Bianca and Kayla say? What would your Grandmother Maria say?"

I took a deep breath and tried to keep my tone even. "They would say that it's good you're standing up to people who call your parents faggot freaks." I spit the last two words out like venom. Papa inhaled sharply and put a hand on the counter to steady himself. "Nevertheless, Bianca." Papa's voice was tight. "I want you to apologize." "Fine!" I jogged up the stairs and dragged my cousins to the attic, where my room was. I liked it that way; the very top of the house, where you could see the sun kiss the treetops at dawn. "Esperanza, Tom, Charlie, you got the footage of the explosion and the aftermath?"

Esperanza smirked. "Like always." 

"You got the Vicky footage?" 

"How could we not?" Tom rubbed his hands together.

"Can you calibrate it to hear exactly what Vicky, Gabe, and I were saying?"

Charlie nodded. "I like where this is going, little cousin."

"I'll need the footage. Just the part where Vicky comes in. It could open a lot of doors. No pranks, Tom! Go, go, go! Text it to me just before I leave."

I pulled on my obnoxiously loud, rainbow gay pride shirt and a leather jacket over it. I tied my combat boots and clipped a leash onto Helios. Charlie winked and waggled his cell phone discreetly as I exited.

I felt a buzzing vibration as the text got through. Perfect. I walked over to Number 276, Helios by my side and rang the doorbell. A girl with long strawberry blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and a Yankees jersey opened the door. "Hello, I'm Bianca di Angelo-Solace from across the street. I believe I owe your mother and father an apology for punching your sister Vicky in the face?" "Oh my gosh, it's you!" she whispered. "You're amazing." 

"Thanks. Can I bring Helios with me? He gets fidgety when left alone." The girl nodded. "Riley Dawson, pleased to meet you." I shook her hand, scooped up Helios, and entered the house. It was a fairly neat place, actually. Except for the occasional basketball or book here or there, it was spotless. "My parents are in the kitchen. I'll walk you there." Riley walked me to the kitchen, wished me luck, and ducked behind the door frame.

"Hello." I said evenly, setting Helios down. "Hello." The man at the table responded coldly. The woman said nothing but eyed Helios. To my luck, Vicky was also sitting there, her nose in a cast, trying to look as pitiable as possible. "My parents sent me here to apologize for punching your daughter and breaking her nose. But from the story I heard, I don't think your daughter was being entirely truthful." The woman spoke. "Not my Vicky! She's a little angel!" "The only thing that happened was what I told my parents happened! Besides, if anything else happened, you have no proof!" "Yes, well, your little angel is capable of some pretty horrible things, ma'am." "Pray tell, girl, what are you going on about?" The man snapped. I raised my eyebrow and pulled out my cell phone. I punched in the passcode and looked at the latest text in the cousin's group chat.

To: Bianca, From: Charlie

Good luck, little cousin! :)

And the video was right beneath that. I put the volume on max, and then tapped on the video. It started directly when Vicky came storming out of her house. And every word she said was loud and clear. Mrs Dawson's face went white as cream when Vicky slapped Gabe and he stumbled back. She gasped when I gave my smartass remark about my family and Helios, and nearly fainted when Vicky called Papa and Dad faggot freaks. "I swear I'm telling the truth, Daddy!" Mr Dawson mocked Vicky, his face ashen. "That di Angelo-Solace girl is a mentally unstable freak! She just punched me when I told Gabe he needed to come home! Do you know how humiliated I am right now? I ranted to that girl's fathers for fifteen minutes about how rude their daughter had been, only to find out that you provoked her in such a way and struck Gabe? You're grounded until next June!" Vicky glared at me murderously.

"Well, who even has cameras around their house anyway?" "My family does." I said lowly as Helios snapped his beak. "It's okay, boy. Calm down. Cool it." I stroked his head while keeping eye contact with Mr Dawson. "But for what it's worth, sir, I do apologize for punching your daughter. Even if she had said those things, I shouldn't have broken her nose. If you'll excuse me, my aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and I are due to have supper in five minutes." And I plucked my phone off the table and Helios off the ground and showed myself to the door.

When I got home, Papa looked at me funny. "We just got an apology phone call from Logan Dawson. He said he didn't know. I don't even want to know what you told him."

"Nothing but the truth, Papa." Was all I said. "Nothing but the truth.


	5. I Swear My Whole Family Ships Us

After that, the summer almost fle bye as if it had wings. Before we knew it, it was the last week of August, and it was time for the annual end of summer barbecue.

"So, what's the guest list for this year? My dad, stepmom, and step brothers are coming." Aunt Annabeth sat at the table with a pencil tucked behind her ear.

"London's coming around this year." Papa offered.

"My mother wants to see the kids." Dad raised his hand a little.

"Mom, Paul, Tyson, and Estelle are also coming!" Uncle Percy grinned with excitement.

"I phoned Dad last night and he said he was saving the date." Aunt Piper shook her head a little and smiled.

"Travis and Connor want to come." Aunt Hazel grimaced a little.

"Those punks better not blow up my yard again!" Papa growled. 

"How many friends from camp are we inviting?" Uncle Frank asked nervously.

"How about all of them?" Uncle Jason threw his hands up in the air, a cheeky smile stretched across his face.

That was the basic conversation. The adults laughed and talked about catching up before Aunt Calypso asked," So who're the kids inviting?" Everybody looked at us. I shrank down a little and picked up Michael, absentmindedly taking a Matchbox car out of his mouth. Immediately everybody started yelling out names.

"I bet Bianca's gonna invite her _boyfriend_ and maybe his sisters _._ " Jackie sang, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

I threw a cushion at her. "Cut it out, Jackie. Besides, I still don't think you told your parents about Noah Walker." I smirked as her parents both threw her confused glares. "You snitch." she muttered. I smiled angelically in response.

"But _is_ Bianca inviting Gabe and the quadruplets?" Amber piped up. Everyone looked at me and I felt my face heating up. "I really don't know. Am I allowed to?" I looked at Papa and Dad, who exchanged glances and seemed to be having a telepathic conversation. "I guess, if you want…" Papa said slowly. "He seems like a nice boy." Dad agreed. "Just don't get too comfortable!" Papa added quickly.

"So should I ask them if they want to come?" All my cousins nodded eagerly. "Oh my Gods, you guys… you're so pushy!" I crossed my arms over my chest. "Esperanza, are you inviting Andi Tyler?" I quickly switched the topic quickly and took the opportunity to escape to my room.

I dashed up the stairs and cracked the window. A gust of cool wind blew in as the portrait of Demeter seemed to smile at me from her place on the wall. "Hi, mom." I whispered absentmindedly as I glanced in her direction, humming while the sun played light games on the wall, studying the climbing vines that creeped up to the roof. The vines had been a gift from my mother. She had given me a potted plant and told me no matter how many branches were burnt away, the roots would still remain and all could be regrown. A little cryptic, I know, but I had accepted the gift, placed it in the attic window, and let it grow.

I stuck my head out the window and carefully climbed out, sliding down onto the roof. I played around with a flower bud blooming in the late August dusk. "Hey, Bianca!" a voice called to me. I glanced around quickly, hoping nobody saw me fooling with my powers. I spotted Gabe outside the gate. "Hi, Gabe!" I waved a little, then fumbled around for the rope I had tied to huge metal hook on the side of the house. It resembled a climbing rope and I shimmied down it. "Hey, Dawson. How's it going?" I smirked as I sprinted towards the gate. "Not bad actually. School's starting soon. Vicky's making my life miserable as usual, but not too much. She's still scared I'll tell you to sic Helios on her." He snickered a little.

"Excited about school?" I teased, a smile playing on my features. "Ugh." Gabe looked a little sick. "Don't remind me. Let me tell you…"

And we talked for a while before Gabe cheerfully waved goodbye and crossed the street to Number 276. I watched him leave as a voice said behind me," So did you ask him?"

"SHIT!" I whirled around and Zoë was standing there, smirking slightly. "Fudgeknuckles, Zoë, you can't do that!" My black haired cousin laughed and doused me a little with water from a puddle near my feet. "No, I didn't ask him, okay? I actually forgot about it." I wasn't lying. I had forgotten while talking about school and other stuff. "Well, go ask him, then!" Her gray eyes flashed as she pushed me out the gate and locked it behind me. "Fucker." I hissed as I trudged

Down the block. "Love you too, cuz!" she waved merrily.

I rang the doorbell and June Dawson answered. She was a bookish girl with black tortoise framed glasses and a slide nose. "Hey, Bianca. What brings you around?"

"I need to speak with Gabe and you guys." I mumbled a little bit, staring at my boots.

"About?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I wanted to know if you guys wanted to come to this barbecue thing my family hosts at the end of the summer. There's mainly gonna be a lot if family and old friends of my aunts and uncles and parents, but my cousins are inviting their friends too." I said quickly.

"I'll ask my parents first, then the girls and Gabe." She dashed into the house and came out a few minutes smiling.

"My dad said that your dads called and asked if the family wants to attend. He's going, so are Gabe, me, Kate, Riley and Denise are also going. Mom and Vicky aren't." She shook her head and her auburn bangs bounced a little. "They're still a little sore about you breaking Vicky's nose."

"Great, so I'll see you there?" June nodded and hugged me quickly before closing the door.

That went better than I expected it to.

 _ **The next week…**_

I sat knitting under the weeping willow in our front yard while Michael and Lee tried to stab their eyes out with my spare needles. People were filing into the yard by the dozens. "Hey, Coach Hedge. Hi, Mellie. What's up, Chuckie?" I smiled at them as they passed by me. The weeping willow seemed to stretch out to give me shade. I set down my knitting and plucked a few flowers from the grass. Halfway through my third flower crown, Jasper shouted," Bianca, they're here!" I quickly wrapped up the third flower crown and set it on Jasper's head on my way to the gate. I heard my cousin grumble as he took it off and put it on Aunt Hazel's head instead.

"Hi, guys. Glad you could make it." I shook hands with Mr Dawson and led him to where the adults were chatting, then went back to Gabe, June, Riley, Denise, and Kate.

"Do you guys wanna meet my cousins?" I asked after a moment. Gabe shrugged and the girls nodded. I put my hands to my mouth and yelled," All Jackson, Grace, Valdez, Zhang, Hedge, and di Angelo-Solace children single file please!" Almost immediately, all my cousins and my brothers weaved out of the crowds and were standing in front of me.

"Okay, so, these are my cousins. That's Esperanza Valdez, she's fifteen, and she's going to be tending the campfire over there. These guys are Jaspar, Amber, and Crystal Zhang, eleven, ten, and four. Those are Jackie and Tom Grace, seventeen and thirteen. These are are Luke, Charlie, Bob, and Zoë Jackson, fourteen, seventeen, eight, and twelve in order. That's Chuck, he's the godson of one of our parents friends, but to heck with it, he's family anyway. And these rugrats are my brother, Michael and Lee. They're both, well, babies." I put a hand on my chin. "I think that's it. You guys can go now. Oh, and Tom, make sure the boys stay away from my knitting."

"Finally." Luke grumbled, and I kicked him in the shin. "You wanna fight, Jackson?" "Bring it, di Angelo-Solace. But, uh, maybe later. I'm helping Dad and Uncle Leo with the grill." He ran in their direction and I hollered after him," Don't kill anybody, Luke, I'm warning you! It takes forever to regrow the grass!"

"Well." Kate said after a minute. "Your family is interesting." I shrugged. "Come on. I know where we can- _shit!_ Michael, put that down! Tom, you were supposed to _watch_ him!" I ran over to Michael just in time to stop him from taking out his eye. "Damn you, Grace!"

"Hey, Bianca, if it's okay with you, we're going to find Esperanza. She looks like she needs help with the campfire." And, indeed, halfway across the yard, Esperanza couldn't start of the bonfire for the life of her.

"Sounds good, have fun." I hoisted Michael on one hip and Lee on the other. "Whoa, Bianca, you need some help with that?" Gabe asked. "No." I grunted as Lee tugged on a lock of hair. "Yes you do." he insisted, and grabbed Michael. "You don't have to-" "Shut up and let's go sit down." 

We wound up sitting under a the willow tree, talking and laughing and weaving flower crowns when all of a sudden I heard a _SNAP._ I looked up just in time to see Jackie laughing and prancing away with a Polaroid in her hands. She shoved the photo at Aunt Piper and Uncle Jason, who snickered and sighed respectively. "Idiot. She thinks she's so smart…" I rolled my eyes. "Hey, the boys are asleep. Let me go put them on the hammock over there."

"I'll help." Gabe offered. He took one baby and I took the other and we placed them on the hammock, gently tucking a blanket under their chins. "Lunch should be ready in a couple of hours." I mentioned offhandedly.

 __"Bianca, what's that noise?" Gabe asked, tilting his head a little. At first, I didn't hear anything, but slowly the sound waves started reaching my ears. "Oh no. Oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no…." I cursed in Ancient Greek. "Be quiet, if we hurry we can make it out before-"

"Alright, friends, family, and everyone in between!" Travis Stoll was standing on the picnic table. "Time for some jams before we start eating! Now, as we all know, it's tradition for the best dancers to kick off the fun! Can we please welcome to the dance floor, our very own Children of the Underworld, the Swinging Siblings, reigning first place for the past twelve years, it's the Ghost King and the Queen of Metals themselves, give it up for Hazel Levesque and Nico di Angelooooooo!"

Everyone started whooping and cheering as spunky jazz/swing hybrid music started blaring and Papa and Aunt Hazel were shoved onto the clearing. They simultaneously shrugged, then started swing dancing. Aunt Hazel's dress swirled around her as Papa spun her and everyone was laughing and clapping as they kicked their legs and shuffled and clicked their heels, throwing out their hands and twisting and turning. Connor had taken over the commentary, throwing out ridiculous remarks as Papa and Aunt Hazel finished with a flourish, Papa on his knee, a wild grin thrown on his face, and Aunt Hazel holding his outstretched hand, her other hand extended behind her.

"That was awesome!" Gabe whispered. "Why were you acting like that?" 

"Because, Gabriel!" I huffed, nearly smacking the flower crown off his hair. "Once Papa and Aunt Hazel finish, everyone else has to go and- oh holy shit…" I attempted to scramble away as Luke approached me and grabbed my wrist, crying," No lost soul shall be left out of this merry festivity!" "LUKE! I WILL MURDER YOU!" I shouted, trying not to die as we got jostled into the crowd of dancing folk.

I don't know how long the dancing went on, but I managed to escape behind the house, my flower crown dangling on my ear. I straightened it as a voice hissed behind me," _Psst!"_ I bolted around. London Maxwell was leaning over my shoulder. She laughed merrily as I breathed heavily, my heart beating fast.

"How you doing, stranger?" Her charcoal hair was cropped short and sported in a ponytail that showed off her greenish gray eyes, which glinted in the sunlight. "Could be better. I'm gonna kill Luke, I'm telling you I got blisters popping up all over!" I rubbed my sore feet. "Not that sort of _how you doing_ , silly!" She fingered the handle of her sword, Reaper. "I meant how are things going with loverboy?" I flushed considerably and batted the comment away. "Don't you try your Aphrodite voodoo on me or I swear I'll steel Reaper and give it to Helios as a chew toy." 

The corners of London's eyes crinkled with amusement. "Good luck trying!" Then she lowered her voice. "Listen, I don't know much, but-"

"Oh, gods, I know from personal experience that anything starting off with those six words can never be good." I groaned.

"Just listen, please! Aphrodite appeared to me earlier. She started going off about the wonderful twists and turns she had in store for the young di Angelo-Solace girl. That can't be good. Promise me you'll do your best to be safe, try to stay safe, please!" Her eyes were flooding with the concern she held for me at that moment. "Just- please, don't do anything dangerous!" My voice caught in my throat. "I- I will, London, I promise." She shook her head a little. "Good girl. Now go have some fun, eh?" She tried for a smile, clapped me on the back, and left.

I followed suit a few moments later, and almost immediately bumped into Gabe. "Sorry, Bianca, didn't see you there. You're right, these dances are killers!" He pouted and rubbed his ankle. "Your cousin Jackie can do a wicked cha-cha." He winced at the memory. "Tell me about it."

We were complaining about our dancing experiences when Connor's voice blasted through the air. "Ladies and gents, before we eat, it's time for one last thing! Grab the arm of the person nearest to you and bust out them dance moves!" Everybody grabbed the arm of the closest person while I stared at Gabe and he stared at me. 

"To hell with it!" He grabbed my arm and pulled me into what I later recognized as the salsa. "Gabe, I can't dance and neither can you!" I flailed my arms and tried not to trip. "Everyone else is dancing, and it isn't half as bad when you're dancing with somebody who's just as bad as you!" "Hey!" I protested. Gabe just laughed and started dancing faster.

"I like dancing with you more than I like dancing with Luke." I mentioned, out of breath. "Oh, really?" Gabe wiggled his eyebrows. "Why's that?"

"Oh my Gods. Am I not allowed to like doing something with you just because?" I rolled my eyes playfully, leaned over, and adjusted his flower crown. Somebody in the crowd whooped, and my very annoying cousin Zoë emerged from the crowd, a phone in her arms. "Guess who got that on video!" She crooned, waving the phone in front of me. "Zoë Jackson, I will kill you and I will feel good about it!" I shouted as I made a wild grab for the phone. Gabe stood watching, amused. "You're even worse than Jackie!" I growled as she laughed and pranced away. "Your family really is something." Gabe chuckled, sliding an arm around my shoulder.

I was about to give a smartass response when I heard another _SNAP_ and this time Uncle Leo danced away, shouting over his shoulder," THAT'S A KEEPER!"

I groaned. "I swear everyone in this yard ships us."

"You just realized that?" Gabe smirked.

"Pretty much." I sighed and shook my head.


	6. The Trouble On The First Day of School

I think the trouble started on the first day of school.

The sound of my alarm clock ringing cut through the crisp morning air. I flopped out of bed and chased it to turn it off. Aunt Calypso had the brilliant idea to get us all running alarm clocks, which had two wheels and jumped off the side table and started rolling around so you had to et out of bed and catch it if you wanted to turn it off. (This is a real thing. You can look it up.)

I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face, still groggy from being woken up. Seriously, I hate that godsdamned alarm clock. Helios scratched on my door and I opened it for him.

"Hey, boy! Uncle Leo helped me install a new thing. Watch this." I opened the control panel and pressed an orange button. He collapsed into a thick gold band that I slipped on my finger like a ring. I spoke in Ancient Greek," Helios, προσοχή!" and he expanded back into normal Helios. "Now I can take you to school with me!" I threw my arms around his neck and pressed the button, slipping the ring on my finger with a smile on my face.

I put on my most obnoxiously loud rainbow gay pride t-shirt, a pair of black jeans and a black leather jacket with iron on patches plastered all over it. I slung a black scarf over my shoulders and put my hair up in a tangly ponytail and tied my combat boots extra tightly. I looked sort of like Sarah Silverman from the _Girls Like You_ video by Maroon 5 on YouTube. Except Sarah Silverman wasn't wearing a gay pride t-shirt. I pulled my backpack on one shoulder and headed down the stairs.

"Bianca!" Dad called. "Someone's here to see you, all the way from Camp Jupiter!"

"Reyna!" I shouted as I burst through the door, dropping my bag in the process. "Klutz." Jackie chuckled deviously. I decided to ignore her. "The one and only!" My godmother winked at me as she leaned on Papa like a very convenient shelf. Papa rolled his eyes and flipped the bacon.

"Listen, I'm here to give you some very important advice on the 7th grade, 'kay?" I nodded eagerly. "Rule number one: Don't be afraid to kick their asses if they deserve it. Rule number two: Always be on guard, no matter what. _Always._ Rule number three-" She shrugged nonchalantly. "If all else fails, kick them where it hurts and _run._ " I saluted. "Yes ma'am!"

She nodded approvingly and snagged a piece of bacon off the plate on the counter, rumpling Papa's bedhead even more in the process. I shovelled my breakfast down and ran out the door. "Have a good first day!" Jackie called after me. That was strange, I thought. Jackie wasn't the type to wish that on me. But I shrugged it off as, to my surprise, I saw Gabe waiting, checking his watch. "You promised you'd walk with me today." he said accusingly.

It was true. Gabe, the stupid dork, was really nervous about school so I promised to walk with him to shut him up.

"I still am." I countered as Reyna stuck her head out the door and shouted," Rule number one!"

"Don't be afraid to kick their asses if they deserve it!"

"Rule number two!"

"Always be on guard! _ALWAYS._ "

"Rule number three!"

"If all else fails, kick 'em where it hurts and _RUN BITCH RUN_!" 

"Good-" A hand reached behind her and dragged her back in the house. "For the love of God, Reyna, stop corrupting my child!" Dad's voice was faint but exasperated.

Gabe looked at me funnily. "What was that about?"

I shrugged. "My godmother giving me advice. Now come on or else we'll be late."

We arrived at the school ten minutes early. "What's your homeroom, Dawson?" I asked.

He checked the back of his hand. "705. You?"

"Same. Nice." I clapped his shoulder. "Thank God…." Gabe looked immensely relieved as he shoved his brown hair out of his eyes.

"Hey, what happened to Helios? I just remembered. I haven't seen him in a while." Gabe looked around as if he might pop out from behind a tree. I tapped my right ring finger where the gold band lay. "It's a new feature. He's portable now." I said proudly.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I jumped. "Daphne, you asshat, you scared the shit out of me!" I smacked her baseball hat. "Who's that?" She narrowed her eyes and elbowed my ribs, her close cropped curly red hair bobbing. Shit. "Uhm, Daphne, this is-"

"I'm Gabe!" He stuck out his hand, and Daphne accepted it. "I live across the street from her. Just moved this summer." I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans. "How did you meet her?" Daphne inquired.

 _Shit._ "Um, you don't need to know-" "Oh, her yard blew up and she sort of crash landed into me and then punched my oldest sister and broke her nose." Gabe said casually. Daphne looked at me strangely. "One summer, Bia, one summer! You can't go one summer without trying to kill somebody?" "Hey, she called my dads faggot freaks!" I defended myself.

Daphne was quiet for a minute. "Remind me again why you didn't kill the bitch?" I sighed. "Because she ran away before Bianca could." Gabe supplied. "Pretty much." I agreed, twisting the band on my finger. "Sweet bling." Daphne finger gunned me. "If only you knew…" I shook my head. The bell rang and students started lining up. 

"Well, here we go!" Gabe said with failing enthusiasm. "It's adventure time."

We filed into the classroom and chose seats. Gabe sat diagonal to me, Daphne sat across from me, and someone I didn't know sat on my left. "Hello, students!" The teacher surveyed us all. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Mr. Sanchez. Welcome to your second year in the hellhole of middle school. Just remember, guys, it doesn't get any worse than this."

Okay, so he didn't seem so bad yet. A few students chuckled. "Before I try and fail to learn your names, I'd like to introduce a couple of new students. When I call your name, please stand and correct me if I say your name wrong." He paused and looked at a clipboard. "Gabriel Dawson?" Gabe stood, stuffing his hands in his pockets and fidgeting slightly. "Eishal Amir?" A girl with a headscarf stood, staring at the floor with cold slate grey-blue eyes. "Okay, kiddos, these are the new students. I'm not going to treat you like kindergarteners, but don't be brats please." She looked at Eishal and Gabe. "You two can sit now." Gabe slumped in his seat with apparent relief. "The worst is over." He muttered in my direction. I nodded.

"Alright, attendance!" The teacher stared at his clipboard in a way that reminded me of when Uncle Percy and Uncle Jason were having a stare contest.

"Bianca di Angelo-Solace?" I raised my hand. "Here." The teacher nodded. I absentmindedly twisted the band on my finger as the teacher called more and more names.

"Elijah Shade?" This name caught my attention. It sent a cold shiver down my spine. From the nervous look Gabe gave me, I can tell he had the same reaction. "Present." The boy next to me said in a blasé, smooth voice. The voice made me nervous, and even though I didn't know why, as a demigod, one of the first things I learned was never to ignore your gut instincts. I scooched my chair away from Elijah Shade a little and focused on the clock.

"Alright, so when I call your names again, please come up to my desk to get your class agendas. Bianca di Angelo-Solace? God, I feel like I'm saying that wrong. Am I saying that wrong?" I sighed, walked up to his desk, and half smiled. "If you were pronouncing my name wrong, I would have told you ten minutes ago. Now can I have my agenda?"

Mr Sanchez nodded and handed me a sheet of copy paper with a schedule printed on it. I hummed as I straightened the collar of my jacket and walked back to my desk. When Gabe got his schedule, I leaned over. "Congrats, Dawson!" I cheered. "You're stuck with me in periods, 1, 3, 4, 6, and 8!"

"Better you than anybody else, di Angelo-Solace." Gabe retorted laughingly. Was it my imagination, or did Elijah Shade's face darken just a little? I shook it off and opened my binder to put my agenda in the folder. Several Polaroids fell out and fluttered onto the floor. I knelt down to pick them up, confused, and nearly choked. They were the Polaroids Jackie and Uncle Leo had taken of me and Gabe at the barbecue. Apparently they had taken more than I thought.

"Gabe." I whispered. "I'm going to kill Jackie, for reals this time." "Why's that?" I nearly shoved the photos up his nose and he did a double take. "I swear to God, Bianca, your family has way too much time on their hands." He laughed and fingered the photo of me placing a flower crown on his head.

"What's going on?" Daphne leaned over and glanced at the pictures. "It was a prank. I invited Gabe to the summer barbecue and since my entire family, for some weird reason, seems to ship us and since they have no lives, they danced around the _entire_ time taking photos of us. And this is Jackie's idea of a prank." I looked in distaste at the photos.

"Well, it was a pretty good one!" Daphne smirked, wagging the pictures of me adjusting Gabe's flower crown mid-salsa and the one of Gabe with his arm around my shoulder.

"Tell me about it. What classes do you have with me, Daph?"

We compared schedules for the next five minutes, until the bell rang.

"Bianca, Daph, stick with me, will you?" Gabe grabbed us both by the arms and us them to Room 498, where we were going to take U.S History. "Geez, Gabe, calm down, we're not going anywhere! I promised I was going to stick with you!" Gabe pulled us into the classroom and we chose some seats near an open window, not too far from the air conditioner. Gabe sat next to me, Daphne across from me, and the same boy from homeroom, Elijah Shade, sat next to Daphne. I twisted my ring furiously, trying not to let my palms sweat too much.

"Bia, how're Michael and Lee?" Daphne suddenly asked.

"Oh God, those two little rugrats?" I shook my head, the tendrils of hair that had escaped the ponytail bouncing. "They keep trying to take their eyes out with my knitting needles. You know that plant I have in my room? Everytime Papa and Dad make me babysit, you know, because I don't have eight other aunts and uncles under the same roof-"

Elijah Shade cut me off. In a silky tone that screamed obnoxiousness, he twisted his mouth and leered," You have _two_ dads? Your family are freaks, you know that, right?"

The classroom went dead silent. The History teacher looked like she was going to interfere, but I raised my head and smiled angelically.

"Aw, I wonder if your ass is jealous of the amount of shit that just came out of your mouth." I said in a sickly sweet tone, shifting my jacket so that my t-shirt was extremely visible. At his stricken face, I lowered my tone and practically growled," Listen up, bitch. The fuck-up fairy may have just graced us all with a visit again, but I have no intention of accepting her gift quietly. Because you're so fake, even China denied they made you. And you know what? I met you not fifteen minutes ago, but I already know that I wasn't born with enough middle fingers to tell you how I feel about you. I will _not_ hesitate to hurt you if you insult my family, got it? And if you do? Well, let's just say I'm experienced in how to hide bodies. I'm warning you."

It was so silent you could've heard a tissue fall. Elijah Shade attempted to retaliate with," I say what I want and I don't feel bad about it."

I was about roast him so bad ten bottles of aloe vera gel wouldn't soothe those burns, but Gabe beat me to it. "Listen, dude. You're lucky she didn't hurt you yet. My sister called her parents faggot freaks and she didn't hesitate to break her face. You've been warned. For your own safety, don't say anything else."

Elijah didn't say anything else. Finally the teacher cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, children, you heard it here. Don't give Miss di Angelo-Solace any trouble about her parents. Now, today's lesson will be focusing on…"

And that was how the lesson went. Everything went pretty smoothly until dismissal, where I managed to get myself suspended on the first day of school for breaking someone's arm with my rabid metal griffin.

It happened like this. Gabe, Daphne and I were about to leave the building. Our first day had gone pretty well, and I was busy teasing Daphne about something that had happened three years ago. But anyway.

We were well out of sight of any teachers or school staff, which would later be unfortunate. A gang of retarded school thugs ran past us, which we didn't pay attention to. Uncle Jason taught me a thing or two about bullies. But we did pay attention when there was a loud _THUD_ as someone fell onto the concrete and several sharp yelps and hisses of pain.

I didn't think twice before sprinting in the direction of the _THUD._

"BIA!" Daphne yelled after me. I faintly heard her saying to Gabe," We're following her, right?" He must have nodded, because I heard running footsteps behind me the second after.

From the shadows I found myself staring at the girl with the headscarf and the gang of dumb thugs. I twisted my band at dangerously high speeds as I watched one of the thugs spit at the girl and kick her abdomen. I heard her curse and her foot shot up in his face. She attempted to get back up and walk away but one of the thugs pulled her arm and ripped her scarf off, tearing it down the middle. It was at that moment I fucked up big time.

I stepped out of the shadows, my ring slipping off my finger. It clattered on the ground. Loudly. The thugs turned their attention to me. "How about you leave her alone?" I asked menacingly, reaching for the ring. I was about to grab it when one of the thugs plucked it off the ground.

"How about you leave me alone?" the girl spat. I pulled the black scarf off my shoulders and handed it to her, whispering," Put it on." The girl looked stunned before obliging.

Then I turned my attention to the gang. "Give it back, I'm warning you." The leader laughed. "Or what? This looks pretty valuable to me and I don't wanna give it up. Maybe if you let me have it I'll let the terrorist go."

With a jolt I realized he was referring to the girl in the headscarf. "I don't know what your issue with me is, but I am no terrorist." The girl flipped him the bird.

"Look, give me my ring back or else. I don't want to hurt you." At that point Daphne and Gabe had caught up with me. "What's happening?" Gabe asked worriedly.

"Gabriel, Daphne, please take her away from here. I'm giving these guys until the count of three to give my ring back." Daphne went over to the girl and helped her to her feet as I raised an eyebrow at the gangsters.

"What you gonna do?" One laughed. "Strangle us with a pride flag?"

"Bitch, she might." It was the first time I had heard Gabe swear.

"Look, the count of three or else. Three… two…" I held out my hand.

"How about no?" The leader slipped the ring on his finger.

I sighed. "You asked for it. "Helios, προσοχή!" The ring on his finger expanded into my metal companion sitting on his back, growling.

" _WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING SHIT?!_ " He screamed, trying to get Helios' claws off his face. "Call your mutt off, call him off!"

I smirked. "I warned you, didn't I? Helios- _attack._ And Gabe? Please go and tell my parents I won't be home for a while."

When he was done, let's just say it wasn't pretty. "You better not mess with _anybody_ who has done nothing you after this, bitch. Unless you want a repeat of today. You got that?"

He nodded nervously. "Helios- come here." The griffin hopped off of the physically broken boy and affectionately butted my calf. I was about to bend down and pet his head when I heard a voice behind me.

" _BIANCA DI ANGELO-SOLACE!_ " I flinched and turned around to face a very angry school dean.

"What happened here?" He was basically growling.

The dumb thug was the first to talk. "She sicced her mutt on me! She- she told that thing to attack me!" 

"Yeah, right after you tackled and beat up a new student who was wearing a headscarf and called her a terrorist and many other unflattering names. Then you proceeded to rip her headscarf off and attempt to steal my ring."

"Which was a metal death machine in disguise!" he whined.

"You broke his arm, Bianca. And you also smuggled a machine onto school grounds. This calls for automatic suspension." He rubbed his temples.

My throat went dry. Papa and Dad were going to kill me. "For how long, sir?"

"Two weeks suspension. You're lucky I'm letting you off easy. Your parents will be phoned. Now go home."

"Yes, sir. Helios, come." I whistled a little and he bounded to my side. I opened the control panel and pushed the button. Helios compacted into a ring again, which I slipped on my finger. I pulled my cell phone out and texted Gabe and Daphne, saying: Are you guys okay? Did you get the girl away safely?

In a few minutes I got a reply from Daphne, saying: yeah, her names eishal, she says thnx and you can have ur scarf back tmrw. Tell me the fight details later.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. At least one thing was going for me today.


	7. I'm Scared, Zoë

When I got home, Papa and Dad were pissed. They wouldn't listen to me, even a little.

"They ripped off her scarf, Dad! I couldn't let them do that!" I shouted.

"Fine, but did you have to sic Helios on him?" Dad fumed.

"It was self defense!" I shot back. 

"That doesn't excuse anything! You are grounded, you hear me?" Papa rubbed his temples. "For three weeks, okay? You have to leave Helios at home from now on. I'm disappointed in you, Bia. I really thought you knew better than that. I understand what you did and why you did it, but you went too far. I really did expect better from you than to break someone's arm. When will you learn, Bianca? That violence and hatred and cold-heartedness aren't the answer to everything? My worst fear is that my children will have to learn that the hard way, the way I did. I learned that by losing my sister, being manipulated and influenced by a ghost with a chip on his shoulder, being rejected by everyone, falling into Tartarus-" his voice was trembling and was steadily raising. "I don't want you to end up like me!" He shouted finally, his shoulders shaking.

"Alright, Neeks, it's fine, I think she gets it." Aunt Hazel intervened and lead him out of the room.

Dad gave me one last disappointed, angry look, and followed Aunt Hazel and Papa.

"Well." Zoë sat down next to me. "That went awfully." She played with a bit of spilled water on the countertop, dousing me playfully.

"Not in the mood, Jackson." I bit my lip anxiously. My phone buzzed in my pocket.

"Who is it?" I asked Zoë as she reached for it.

"Gabe." she answered seriously. I knew she was serious because she didn't say 'your boyfriend'. "He says that you did a good thing, and for what it's worth he hopes you're okay. He also says that the girl you helped forwarded her number through him." She rattled off a phone number.

"Add it for me." I drummed my fingers on the countertop.

"I fucked up." I said after a long silence. She put an arm around my shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Yeah, you did, but you screwed up for a good reason, right? But you really can't keep hurting people, Bia. Bia, Bia, look at me."

I watched my tears drip onto the counter and tried to steady my breathing.

"Hey, it's okay." Her blonde princess curls bobbed as she swivelled her head to look at me. "How about we go to your room, alright? I'll bring the snacks and the playlist, okay?"

I nodded, cracking a small smile. "I'll supply the blankets."

She was turning to leave when I absentmindedly called after her," Hey, Jackson!"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem, di Angelo-Solace. No problem at all."

 _***TIMESKIP***_

I think that that night was the night I changed. I became more reserved after that. More careful, more brooding, more reserved. But that didn't change just how scary I could be.

One person was unaffected my personality change, and that was Elijah Shade. He was like my own personal stalker dude. Yay for me.

I stood outside of the school during recess, waiting for Zoë to meet me. I had my earphones in, listening to my playlist of _Maroon_ _5, Pink,_ and _Imagine_ _Dragons_ when a voice that was definitely not Zoë's called me.

"Hey, Solace!"

I gritted my teeth.

"That's di Angelo-Solace to you, Shade." I moistened my lips a little.

"You got nice lips." He took a few slow steps closer to me. I didn't back away. "They would look really good wrapped around my-"

He was cut off by none other than Zoë Jackson standing behind him, her fists curled, snarling, "You did not just say what I think you said to my cousin."

I didn't blame him for flinching away. Zoë was extremely scary-looking. I was that kid who looked all sweet and innocent but was a killer but Zoë was a killer and looked like it. Her princess curls whipped around her face, a scar shade of blonde in the noon sunlight, her sea-green eyes flashing, dangerously murky and dark.

"I didn't say anything." He tensed up.

"You have three seconds to get your sorry rear away from Bianca or I will hurt you."

He ran like a hound dog.

"I'm so done." I growled. "I'm so done with that stupid, insolent, ignorant little fuck!" I clenched and unclenched my fist. Then I took a deep breath and tried to relax. "He isn't worth it, he isn't worth it…"

Zoë regarded me with sad eyes, now clear and calm. "I'm worried about you, Bia." was all she said before she got comfortable on one of the benches.

"Zoë?" I asked tentatively as she dug around in her bag for a pen.

"Hmm?"

"I'm scared." I whispered. "I'm so scared. I'm scared of the future, I'm scared of the people around me, I'm scared of hurting people- I'm scared of myself. I'm so scared."

She exhaled. "I'm scared too, Bia." She reached for my hand.

"I don't want to do this anymore, Zo…" She smiled at the old childhood nickname.

 _Zo and Bia, Bia and Zo. Best friends from the beginning._

"I've got you. If you're ever down, I'll sit down with you until you're ready to get back up again and keep on moving. I won't kick you, I won't leave you, I won't ever go on without you. I'll wait until you're ready." She squeezed my hand.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Eishal had made her way over to us. After the Helios incident, we had become fast friends.

Zoë's head snapped up. "Hey, look!"

Our gym teacher was coming our way, blowing his whistle aggressively. We often joked that he might be related to Coach Hedge. 

"Here comes the general!" I sang loudly.

"Here comes the general!" She grinned cheekily.

"Here comes the general!" Eishal shouted boldly.

"It's Coach Bronson!" We burst into a fit of laughter.

Coach Bronson stopped blowing his whistle and regarded us. Then he bellowed," We are outgun-"

He was cut off by a kid across the field screaming," NOT AGAIN!"

 **Hola. Sorry this is short. Serious writer's block, dudes. Serious writer's block. Anyway, this chapter signals Bianca's personality change after she realizes that she can't go on being so aggressive. Things go all downhill from here, readers!**

 ***Cue thunder and lightning (thanks Thalia)* MWHAHAHAHAHA!**


	8. Will You Go Out With Me?

Zoë, Gabe and I walked home together. We saw Gabe off on the corner and continued on to our house, excited to start Thanksgiving Break. It was drizzling, the drops of rainwater like little pellets of sleety ice against our skin. We ran home as quickly as we could, and when we got there, we found a note pinned to the fridge. All of my cousins were crowded around it, excited expressions on their faces.

I picked it up and skimmed it quickly, then passed it to Zoë.

It read:

 _Dear kids,_

 _There's been an emergency meeting between the two camps. We will likely not be home until the end of Thanksgiving Break. The house is yours for the weekend. Lee and Michael are with us. Don't destroy the house, only the older kids can cook. Older meaning you're in high school, got it? We want photos of each of your CLEANED rooms on Friday and Sunday, each of them with a box of unopened Ritz crackers on the bed to prevent re-usage of any previous photos. If you want you can have friends over but again, don't destroy the house. When we get back, we have some big news for you all. Be safe, be responsible. Love you guys :)_

 _The Parents_

"You guys know what this means…" Amber said slowly.

"Yes we do!" Bob said slyly.

"What does it mean?" Crystal pouted.

"You see, baby cousin…" Charlie reached down and scooped her up, tickling her stomach. "When the parents aren't home for the weekend, we can have fun! When the parents aren't home, we can do whatever we want. We could eat ice cream for dinner, or have a Nerf battle in the hallway, or… or… anything, really. They leave us home alone at least a few times a year, and it's always fun. They take the little kids, like Mikey and Lee with them, and they always used to take you. But now, you're old enough to have fun with us!"

"Boys night and Girl's night, of course." Jackie supplied. "And then, after we all do our thing, we can watch a movie and pool our money for popcorn and Papa John's."

Everyone murmured in agreement.

"First we need to fine-tune the order." I reminded everyone. "We'll order around seven or eight. Charlie and I will go."

"Well, I do need to pick up some supplies for my science project from the hardware store across from Papa John's…" Charlie pondered. "I'm game!"

"Alright!" Jackie clapped her hands. "I'll take the girls and Charlie, you take your… er, species." She waved her hand vaguely and ignored Crystal cheered as Charlie set her down. "What are we going to do?"

Charlie's offended expression.

"Guess what we're doing tonight?" Jackie smiled secretively. We all looked at her, waiting. "Makeovers! Now, I know you will probably fight me about this, Bia, but I really do think that-"

"I'll do it." I clamped my hand over her mouth. "I want to try something new. Or at least, that's the excuse I'm making up."

Jackie looked as if I had told her that Huda Beauty had been discontinued. "Alright…" she said slowly. "I'm not questioning this because I can't believe my good luck. I finally get to make you look like you don't live in a dumpster!"

"Gee, thanks…" I grumbled. "Well, let's get going, then. We have to discuss the order for food and get this 'makeover' started."

 _***TIMESKIPPITYSKIPSKIP!***_

Five hours later, all the girls had full faces of makeup- excluding Crystal, who had on kiddie eyeshadow and clear lip gloss. She was actually pretty fine with it. We also had our hair either curled or straightened and style to a T. I hated to admit it, but _damn_ we looked fine.

"Alright." I sat down at the kitchen table. "So, we're getting three extra-large pizzas, one Garden Fresh, one pepperoni, and one with just extra cheese, right?" Everyone nodded. "We're also picking up two 2-liter bottles of soda, one Coke and one Sprite, right?" Everyone nodded again. "And two orders of the brownies, one for us and one for the adults when they get back so they don't feel left out."

"Wait! Remember the peach preserves!" Luke wailed. I snorted in disgust but scribbled it down anyway and I practically dragged Charlie out to Uncle Percy's car, which we nicknamed _Blue Raspberry._ Apparently his obsession with blue went farther than just food.

Charlie revved the engine and lowered all the windows. I climbed into the passenger side of the car and wasted no time in sticking my head out the window and whooping like a maniac as the wind whipped through my hair, mussing Jackie's carefully made curls.

"It's been awhile since I've seen you like this." Charlie sounded sad. He was kind of like everyone's big brother, like the Uncle Jason of the family. He had been around when all of us were born and made it his personal mission to take care of us.

We pulled up in front of Papa John's and Charlie parked the car. Then he sprinted down the block, his black hair falling around his face as he called over his shoulder that he'd wait in the car for me.

I popped my earbuds in and tugged the door to the pizzeria open. I quickly gave my order, made some idle conversation with the clerk, who was a son of Tyche and my parents' friend, and sat down to wait. While I was waiting, a shadow fell over me and I looked up, thinking Charlie had decided to come in. Unfortunately, it wasn't Charlie. It was Elijah Shade, my very own personal stalker (yay, me).

"Di Angelo." he smirked.

I sighed deeply. "You already know what I'm going to say so I may as well not say it at all."

"Of course, of course, I know. It's 'di-Angelo-Solace, isn't it, Bianca?"

I said nothing and only looked him straight in the eye as I increased the volume of the music on my phone. _Warriors_ blared so loudly in my ears that it hurt, but it was better than listening to Elijah.

"Fuck off." I growled.

"You don't have to listen to me, but I would appreciate it if you did." He didn't sound as cruel as usual.

"Please leave me alone." I spoke quietly but my voice was hard.

"Please _listen to me_!" Elijah hissed, running a hand through his hair. "Not that it's much of a question, so I won't make it one. Go out with me."

I took out one earbud and raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Go out with me." he repeated in an even cockier tone.

"Are you kidding? No." I went back to my music and the clerk raised an eyebrow from the counter.

"Why not, babe? You're cute and I like you." He sat down on the seat next to me and slid an arm around my shoulders. I tensed and shook him off.

"I said _no._ You've insulted my fathers on numerous occasions, made sexist comments towards me, stalked me for the past two months, are racist to everyone- how's you feel if I told you I'm part Italian, Greek, Roman, American- but that isn't even the point! I would never associate myself with someone like you. So no, I will not go out with you, I will never consider going out with you, and I hope, for your own safety, you don't explore this topic further." I popped the earbud back in.

My phone started buzzing at that moment and I yelped, seeing as the volume was on full and I had a very obnoxious ringtone. I quickly unplugged my earbuds and answered the call. It was Charlie, everyone's mother hen.

"Are you okay, Bia? The orders taking a very long time. Plus you seem to be having some trouble with that kid."

"Stop stalking me from the car, Charles." I used his full name to show him I was serious. "It's a large order, I'll be out in ten."

"Alright, alright. Bye, love you."

"Yeah, yeah, love you too, Charlie." I hung up and a hand knocked my phone to the floor. I winced as a spiderweb of cracks crisscrossed the screen.

"So _that's_ why you won't go out with me?" Shade's eyes flashed dangerously. "You're going out with this _Charlie_?"

"What?!" I was too dumbfounded to react properly. "Look, fuck off and leave me alone."

I got up and picked my phone off the floor. Shade chose that opportunity to back me into the wall. The son of Tyche looked as if he were going to physically intervene, but instead shouted," You leave that girl alone, you hear me?"

"Go back to making pizza, simp!" Elijah barked in his direction. He pinned me to the wall by my elbows, and growled," Whoever your boyfriend Charlie is, I will personally hunt him down and eliminate him. If I can't have you, _no one can_!"

The door swung open at that moment, and Charlie stood there in all his glory, hammer in hand.

"You won't have to 'hunt Charlie down' bitch. Charlie's right here, and I will inflict all hell on you for putting your hands on my baby cousin. I give you five seconds to let go of her and run or I pound your head in with this hammer."

Elijah was in shock, so I took that opportunity to kick him in the nuts and run behind Charlie, whose gray eyes were flashing dangerously.

"You bought a _hammer_ for your project?" I asked him.

"Architecture, baby cousin, architecture." He shrugged it off and turned to Elijah.

"If you _ever_ lay a hand on my cousin again, I will personally _kill_ you. You got me?"

Elijah grunted, obviously in pain. "You think death threats will stop me, _Charlie_? I've gotten every girl I've gone after. I like the girls with spirit, and you know why? I like _breaking_ that spirit, crushing it under truckloads of dominance and male superiority. I like taking my girls and taking a good look at them before I break them, because I can assure you this- every girl that I have dated has never been the same after. And I will get my girl this time, I promise you."

A chill went down my spine and Charlie's face was as white as his knuckles. His voice was strained when he spoke," Not… my… cousin, you hear me? Now _get._ "

Elijah gave us one last wicked look and left. Charlie got our order and I paid, and we got back into _Blue Raspberry._ I rolled up the windows and kept checking that the doors were locked.

"I'm telling Uncle Nico and Uncle Will about this." Charlie said after a long silence. "This can't go on. I'm not standing by and letting this creep harass you. You're my baby sister, like Zoë. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you-" His voice cracked, and my throat had a sudden lump in it. "I watched you grow up, Bianca. I watched you become the person you are today, and I'm not letting you become ruined because of some sexist perv."

I nodded and swallowed hard. Charlie gunned the engine and didn't say anything else for the rest of the ride. Neither did I.

Only when we got home did I realize how much my hands were shaking.


	9. Stalkers, Explosions, and Pepper Spray

"What happened?" Jackie rushed in, horrified. "You both look like you've seen ghosts!" 

I raised an eyebrow.

"Pun not intended, but still. Charles Perseus Jackson, if you don't tell me what just happened, I will charmspeak you into next week!" She waved a mascara wand threateningly at him. Zoë wandered over to the tap and turned it on, whistling nonchalantly, bending it slightly as a warning.

The thing about Jackie is, she will terrorize us all and have little to no conscience whatsoever, but the second someone else lays a finger on any of us, she will be ready to make nail polish out of the blood of her enemies.

"Uhm… Bia? Help me out?" Charlie looked at me.

"Guys, guys, we'll tell you." I held up my hands. "After dinner. We'll put Amber, Bob, and Crystal to sleep and we'll have a talk."

Jackie's eyes widened a little. "Oh- it's something- oh…" She coughed a little.

"CHOW TIME!" Luke screeched up the stairs. All the kids came scrambling down. We poured drinks and ate our pizza with relish, because who doesn't like pizza? But it wasn't the normal gusto we usually had. Charlie and I knew what it had taken to get this pizza. Somehow, it took away from the magic of junk food.

We served the brownie and sent Amber, Crystal, and Bob off to bed.

"So, what happened?" Esperanza cut another slice of brownie, humming _Girl on Fire._

I cleared my throat. "So, um, I went to the pizzeria and Charlie went to the store to get his stuff. I placed the order and I was waiting and- and Jackie, what in Hades are you doing?"

Jaspar had piled peach preserves on his pizza and took a huge bite, smacking his lips. The girls all looked at him in disgust.

"What?!" he complained. "It's good, you guy should try it!"

The guys all glanced at each other, then dove for the pizza box and the jars of peach preserves.

"Hey, it's not bad!" Tom licked his lips a little.

"You are all disgusting." Zoë said after a moment.

"But anyway…" I continued. "So I was just waiting and listening to music, and this kid comes up to me. He asks me out and I said no, because all our parents said no dating until the eighth grade."

Everyone nods.

"And then he keeps harassing me on why I said no, and I delivered a strongly worded speech on that issue. Then I put my earbuds back in and went on with my music."

"At which point I called because the order was taking really long, and then there was trouble. She told me it would be five minutes, then said bye and love you, and the little creep was furious." Charlie growled and ground his teeth.

"And then he started advancing on me, asking me who my boyfriend Charlie was, and that he'd hunt him down and get him. He also threw my phone on the floor." I produced a very cracked phone. They stared in silence.

"And then I busted down the door with a hammer like a badass and Bia kicked him where it hurt and I threatened to bust his face in if he ever touched her again." Charlie intervened proudly.

"Gods of Olympus, he's gonna die." Zoë got up and started towards the door. I got up and dragged her back.

"What?" she complained. "Doesn't anyone else wanna murder this kid with me?"

"Zoë, we all do, but we can't go to jail for murder just yet. We can either Iris-message the parents, or wait till they come home." For once, Luke was serious.

"We should wait." Jackie jumped in. "They have important business at Camp. When they come back we'll tell them."

Murmurs of agreement went up all around. We turned on the TV after that and wound up falling asleep, tangled in each other's limbs, fluffy blankets, and concerned thoughts.

When the parent's got back Monday morning, I'd like to say they took the news well.

Cut to all of the older kids trying to restrain a horde of angry, armed adults from killing a twelve year old jackass they didn't know.

When they finally calmed down, we all had a long talk about safety.

"All of you are to go out in groups of three or more from now on." Uncle Jason's voice was trembling.

"We didn't raise all of you to have you gone because some bitch ass boy can't control himself." Dad growled, cracking his knuckles.

"All of you girls are going to carry pepper spray from now on. If some creep bothers you, spray him and run as fast as you can to a safe haven." Aunt Calypso had worry lines etches deep in her forehead as she spoke.

"And all you boys too. We're not taking any chances with any of you. If you are nine or older, you can carry pepper spray. We're adults, so since we pick the younger kids up from school, we don't need spray. Alright?" Uncle Percy rubbed his temples.

"You all- just… be careful. You can go now." Uncle Frank said grimly and Aunt Hazel nodded, adding in," If all else fails, you _can_ deck them, m'kay?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this- Nico-please-don't-kill-me- but I think we should get the girls to join the Hunters of Artemis. Protection against boys and all that jazz?" Uncle Leo looked up.

"Join the Hunters? _Join the Hunters?!"_ Papa got all up in Uncle Leo's face.You listen here, campfire, I already lost one Bianca to the Hunters. I'm not losing another!" He pulled back his fist as if he was going to punch.

"Nico, he's worried. We all are. They aren't our babies anymore and we're all just throwing out random, desperate ideas. All of us just want to keep them safe." Aunt Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder. Papa sighed and sunk into the couch, head in his hands.

"Jason and I will go to the drugstore to get the pepper spray, alright? We'll be back in fifteen. You guys go to your rooms. You can stay together, if you want. Actually, that's what we'd prefer." Aunt Piper laced a bit of charmspeak into her voice.

We all shuffled off to our rooms, though after a while everyone wound up camping in Luke and Charlie's room. It was fairly large and could fit all of us with room to spare.

"Charlie, d'you happen to know how to fix a cracked phone?" I asked.

"I could try." he said thoughtfully. "It would take some work, but-"

"Sh, sh, sh, shut up, I just got a text from a number." I opened up my messages. It says," _I'm coming to get you._ WHAT THE FUCK?!" I panicked and threw the phone at Luke.

"DAD! MOM! BIA JUST GOT A REALLY CREEPY TEXT FROM AN UNKNOWN NUMBER!" he proceeded to yell down the stairs.

They stampeded up the stairs. Papa held out his hand. "Show me, Luke."

Luke handed the phone over. "Oh my gods…" Papa whispered. "Oh my gods… they're sending another. It says… _I will come for you, even if I have to kill to do that._ "

Aunt Piper turned to me. "Bia, write down your most important numbers. Leo, save the photos and videos onto the Cloud, then destroy the cell phone."

Uncle Leo and I nodded. I quickly scribbled down the numbers, then Uncle Leo took the phone to his workshop. About then minutes later, he screeched.

"THERE'S ANOTHER MESSAGE!" He ran into the room, waving the phone. " _Don't think I won't keep my promise, Bianca di Angelo-Solace._ " Dad and Papa's faces turned stark white and I instinctively stepped closer to them.

"Do you have the info saved?" Aunt Annabeth asked. Uncle Leo nodded. "Was just putting on the finishing touches. It's all good."

"Blow it up. Destroy it. I don't care what you do." Dad's jaw was set. Uncle Leo winked and ran to the backyard, where we watched him from the window. He had a bucket of water and some gasoline. He poured the gasoline on the phone, then shot a fireball at it. It exploded with a _BANG._ He put out the remaining flames with the water as Uncle Jason manipulated the winds to wave the gasoline smell away.

"Bia…" Papa knelt down to look at me. His black eyes were panicked and unfocused. Dad kept running his hands through his hair and pulling at his fingers, biting his lip.

"Yes, Papa?" I asked quietly.

"We love you, you know that, right?" Dad looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Of course I know." 

"Then please, don't do anything stupid for us. In the end, if it came down to us or any of you, then by the gods we'd let it be us." Papa spoke to the whole room, kissed my forehead, then abruptly left. Dad and the rest of my aunts and uncles did the same to their kids, then followed Papa downstairs.

It was quiet for a long time in Luke and Charlie's room.


	10. The Bedtime Story (a repetitive one too)

I was scared. Really scared. But I think I took it well.

Actually, no I didn't. I was rendered catatonic and frantically hooking my ankle around Zoë's, something we used to do when we were younger. If one of us got scared, upset, nervous, etc. it kind of became instinct to hook our ankles, like I was doing now.

Everyone looked more worried than I had ever seen them. Even Luke looked serious for once.

I heard a loud whisper of, "Oh FUCK, we forgot to tell them, didn't we?" from Aunt Piper's downstairs, and stunned silence.

Within a minute, all the parents were all upstairs.

"So, uh, yeah. We decided you guys are gonna take the next two weeks off of school to go visit Camp." Uncle Percy said quickly, brushing blue crumbs off his hands.

"WHAT?" Zoë yelped. "But I can't! I have a science exam next Monday, a math quiz tomorrow, a spelling test on Wednesday-" 

"But camp!" Bob threw his hands up in the air.

"But school!" Zoë screeched, attempting to pull her hair out in great clumps.

"Zoë, don't worry." Aunt Annabeth put a hand on her shoulder. "The school is notified and your grade will not be affected by this, partly because of your Aunt Hazel's amazing Mist magic, partly because of a 'family emergency.' Besides, you'll have so much fun at camp!"

"Yeah, you're gonna get awesome stabby stabby weapons and learn how to kill people!" Uncle Leo grinned maniacally. Aunt Calypso slapped him.

"Can I get a huge ass shotgun like Dad?" I raised my hand and grinned.

Papa and Dad both stood up. "aBsOlUtElY nOt!"

"Guys, it was a joke."

"No daughter of mine is going to have a gun!" Papa wrinkled his nose. "No, you're going to have the very best, deadliest Stygian Iron sword I can get my hands on."

" _nICO_!"

" _wHAT_?"

While Papa and Dad bickered, everyone excitedly bantered about camp. Even I forgot about the whole stalking thing temporarily. But I didn't unhook my ankle from Zoë's, and I didn't feel completely at ease.

I wondered if this was what real fear felt like.

Later that night, I was sitting on my bed with my laptop open. I wasn't into the scrolling I was doing, though. It was more like a way to pass time so I wouldn't have to sleep.

I heard footsteps on the stairs and I quickly shut down the laptop and put it on the bedside table. Even if we were going to camp in two days, I still had a bedtime.

Unfortunately.

I lay there on my side, staring out the window into the night sky. I saw a constellation of a girl. It shifted slightly while running, drew back a string of stardust, let go, and a shooting star flew across the galaxy for all the world to see.

I smiled faintly as I remembered what Uncle Percy and Aunt Annabeth used to tell us: _There she is; Lieutenant Zoë Nightshade of the Hunters of Artemis, living on in the stars, forever hunting the night beasts of the sky._

My door opened. I didn't try to feign sleep; Papa and Dad knew all too well when I faked being asleep.

My dads were each carrying a sleeping twin on their hips. I inclined my head slightly to acknowledge their presence, and watched as they made their way to my bed and sat down on either edge.

It was silent for a few minutes. Then Dad spoke.

"Did we ever tell you the story of when we decided we wanted to become parents?" He had a faraway look in his eyes.

I knew the answer to that question. They had told it so many times I knew it word for word. It was my favorite story out of all the tales they had to tell. I probably knew this story better than they did at this point. Of course they told me this story before.

"Not that I can recall." I answered.

"Well, you see…" Papa put Michael down next to me and shifted his position. "It was a few days after your cousin Zoë was born. We all loved that girl to bits; she showed she had Percy's attitude and Annabeth's brain as well as both of their looks right from the very beginning. She was really something."

"And one day, I volunteered us to watch little Zoë Jackson while Percy and Annabeth had a much needed day of rest about a month after the baby had come. So we had picked her up from Percy and Annabeth's place, since we didn't live together at the time, and we went to the park for some fresh air." 

Papa cut him off. "Whatever your father says, ignore it. Just let me tell you that, hands down, that was the worst day we possibly ever had."

"Neither of us knew how to change a diaper, or how to make formula, or even how to hold a baby! On top of it all, Zoë _hated_ us. Like, she loathed us with every fibre of her infant being." Dad shook his head at the memory.

"So when the day was over and we gave your cousin back to her parents, even though that day had been absolutely gods _awful_ for all of us, something wasn't right." He sighed a little. "There were no wails of hunger or rare shrieks of delight or frantic yelling from your dad and I echoing through the house. It was so quiet, so strange, Bianca. And I couldn't place it at the time. Neither could your dad."

"We decided to sleep on it." Dad continued for him. "And when we woke up, again- Bia, it was such a weird feeling. Anyways, a few days later Percy and Annabeth invited us for dinner with Hazel, Frank, Leo, Calypso, Piper, and Jason. Piper and Jason brought Jackie and Tom, Leo and Cal brought Esperanza, and Percy and Annabeth had Zoë, Luke, and Charlie."

"Yeah, you can imagine how abso-fucking-lutely downright WEIRD it was when we were there, surrounded by those screaming children, and felt at PEACE for the first time in three or four days. I think your dad almost cried at one point." Papa snorted.

"Shut up, Death Boy. Anyway, we realized what was wrong. You know what it was?" Dad asked softly.

"We wanted to become parents. Life without someone to love- I mean, we had each other but it wasn't the same as having a child. And so…" Papa smoothed my hair down with one hand. "You were introduced to our family. And it was a few days after that all of your aunts and uncles and us decided to share a house. Because demigods- they need their family. It's good to keep your loved ones close because you never know what might happen."

"And just how our lives were off-key before we got you, they would be even more off-key if we lost you. Please, Bia, be safe?" Dad gazed at me, his blue eyes only slightly misty. I decided not to bring it up.

"I promise." I yawned and rolled over. "Good night, Papa, good night, Daddy."

"Good night, Bianca." Papa and Dad each kissed me on the cheek before taking the boys and leaving. A few moments later, Dad popped his head back in.

"Oh, and Bianca? Don't use the laptop when it's time to sleep, m'kay?" he said snarkily. Then, in a nicer tone, he added, "And remember to pack tomorrow morning! We're all getting up early. I _will_ supersonic whistle you if I have to."

"You won't need to." I shot back confidently.

(spoiler: he did use the whistle.)

 **ASDFGHJKLSDFGHJKFDSDFGHGFDZFXCV I'M SORRY I'M SUCH A SHITTY AUTHOR IT'S BEEN MORE THAN A WEEK SINCE I'VE UPDATED AND I'VE BEEN HAVING MENTAL BREAKDOWNS OVER SCHOOL AND WORK AND I'M SO SORRY OMGOSH THIS CHAPTER IS LITERAL TRASH AGHHHGGGHGHG**

 **(deep breath) (smile) Imma try to update Little Soldier as soon as I can, I've been having writers block over that one.**

 **On the plus side, I'm going to ComicCon with my uncle at the end of this week and I'm sO EXCITED AHHHH!**

 **Thank you for reading my garbage, viewers. You are most kind.**

 **Happy reading, all!**


	11. Zoë's Concept

In the Jackson-Grace-Zhang-Valdez-di Angelo-Solace house, it wasn't uncommon for the night to bring out bad memories. Being the saviors of the world came with a price, after all.

When I heard the first anxious mumbles, I sighed and slipped out of my bed. Without bothering to shove on my slippers, I tried to walk as quietly as possible down to Zoë and Crystal's room. Zoë was awake.

"You too?" Was all she asked. I nodded.

"Wanna come to my room? You know, I don't know why we don't share one. We should." I held my hand out and she accepted it, jumping out of bed. The floor creaked and she winced as Crystal rolled over.

"Come on." she whispered, tugging me along.

I stopped Zoë outside Papa and Dad's door and peeked in. Papa had a cold sweat broken out on his forehead and he was mumbling feverishly. He was clinging to Dad, who had his arms wrapped around him protectively.

I sighed and shook my head. "It's not fair…" I muttered, taking a few steps away from the door. "They saved the world multiple times when the gods couldn't. After all these years, don't they deserve just a little peace and rest? It's like, hey, you survived the war! Your reward? You get to live with the trauma."

Zoë didn't say anything, but looked up at me with wide green eyes. "The other day when I stayed home because I had a cold Mom was taking a nap and she woke up screaming, shaking Dad like crazy and asking why he left her. She just kept screaming and crying and… and I was so scared." Her defeated, slumped shoulder contradicted her fists, clenched so hard her knuckles were white.

I pried her fingers open and grabbed her hand, pulling her down the hall before we woke someone. I didn't stop until we got to my room.

"I like your room." Zoë said after a minute. "Crystal's side of the room is so sparkly it hurts my eyes. Plus, it's hard to sleep when your roommate just turns into a tiger in the middle of the night and starts hissing and growling." She shuddered and I laughed in spite of myself. "Again, why weren't we roommates?"

"Because we were the ultimate power couple." I responded swiftly. "We could get away with _anything_ together. Zoë Jackson and Bianca di Angelo-Solace, the legacy of Poseidon and Athena and the daughter of Demeter and the sons of Hades and Apollo. Aunt Hazel told me we were briefly roomed together- _briefly._ "

"Why? What happened?" Zoë sounded tired. She had that quality about her, almost timeless. Like her namesake, Zoë Nightshade.

Zoë's voice was quiet, her blond curls catching the starlight. She stared forlornly at the constellation of her namesake sprinting through the galaxies, content hunting the zodiacs for the rest of her days.

"After an encounter in which you exploded the attic bathroom, I grew the grass so tall it reached the window, and you used your Athena smarts to somehow hide the fact that it happened- they seperated us because we were just too powerful." I shook my head mock morosely.

My cousin grinned cheekily. "Not that separation ever stopped us from growing powerful enough to overthrow the gods themselves."

Lightning flashed almost lazily, nicking the sky. It was as if the gods knew they should be offended but couldn't summon the energy to be.

"So… what now?" I felt the corners of my mouth turn down slightly.

"What do you mean, what now? Bia, it's-" She glanced at the clock briefly. "- 2:43 AM and you want to do something?"

I sighed and ran my finger along the velvety leaves of my ivy plant. It perked up a little, somehow looking healthier. Sometimes I wished people were like plants. I tore myself away from the vine and flopped down on the bed.

"Geez, Zo, I'm just- I don't know. It's so hard to sleep lately. So much is going on. _How_ am I supposed to sleep when there's a million other things happening at this very moment? And why am I not able to do anything about it?" I set my jaw, frustrated.

She looked down at the floor, her fingers skimming the comforter. Her ankle swivelled, colliding with mine and, with a moment's hesitation, she hooked them.

"A concept…" she began, closing her eyes. "One of peace. There is no Great Prophecy, no Big Three, no Oracle and no Curse to go with it."

My throat constricted. "Zoë-"

"There is no Pontifex Maximus, no temples to honour fallen deities, no strange powers that are written like glyphs and translate to death. There is no Waystation or any Hunters of Artemis."

"Zoë, you just can't-"

"There is _nothing_." She opened her eyes and they flash a thousand times worse than the lazy lightning that had barely made an imprint upon the sky. They flash like love, hate, death, and war. If her eyes were thunder they would destroy, slicing the very skies in two and leaving horrific ruin in its wake.

"There is no Camp Jupiter and no Camp Half-Blood, even. The gods don't exist- no, the gods are dead _,_ Bianca, the gods are _dead._ " She unhooked her ankle from mine. Zoë's gaze locked with my own and her eyes searched for agreement.

I know I can't even give her that much.

"And do you know what?"

I inclined my head. She opens her mouth but is cut off by a yelp from downstairs. We glanced at each other and raced to the door, tripping over our own feet to Aunt Hazel and Uncle Frank's room, the source of the shriek.

All the other aunts and uncles are there, and Aunt Hazel is trying to calm them.

"Percy, put Riptide away! Nico, there's no need to summon skeletons, and put your sword away too, I swear to the gods! It was nothing. Frank just shifted in his sleep by accident."

The clamor died down at her words. Normally it would have been nothing, but Uncle Frank looked so tired that it must have been something. His broad shoulders are stiff and his face is creased with worry lines. His eyes landed on us and he nudged Aunt Hazel.

"What are you two doing up?" he sounded shaky and defeated. "Girls, it was nothing. You can go now." 

Neither of us moved. Aunt Annabeth pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and walked over to Zoë, wrapping her arms around her in an embrace.

Dad sighed, then opened his arms. Without a second thought, I barrelled into them.

Aunt Annabeth let go first. "Girls-"

"Don't tell us nothing's wrong, Mom." Zoë jutted her chin out defiantly. "We're _demigods._ Nothing is ever right in the first place."

Her mother swallowed hard like she's swallowing a lump in her throat.

Dad let go of me gently. I missed the embrace almost immediately.

"You girls know it's not alright. But you just aren't ready to have to process what we've been through. Hell, _we_ can barely handle it, what in Hades makes you think you can?" Uncle Jason asked quietly.

"We don't deserve to know because we haven't lived enough years yet, that's what you're saying, isn't it? Charlie and Jackie don't even know and they're seventeen!" Zoë burst out. "I don't care how old we are. I'm a demigod too and so is Bianca. All of us kids are! How old were you when you were spiralled into all this Great Prophecy crap, Dad? Tell me."

Uncle Percy's voice was brittle when he finally answered. "I was twelve. I thought the minotaur had killed my mom and suddenly I was special because of my parentage. Nothing made Percy Jackson special other than who his father was back then."

"We're twelve too! You killed a minotaur by now- we at least deserve to know our history! Would you not have given anything to be able to understand?" I'm pleading now. Dad's face hardens.

"That's enough from you two." Uncle Leo said quietly. "Just… go back to bed."

"You too, Uncle Leo? You too?" Zoë turned to him helplessly.

"Zoë… we all agreed before you all were born that it would be a long while before we would be ready to tell you this." Aunt Calypso said firmly.

I didn't say anything and neither did Zoë.

"Everyone, back to your rooms now. _Everyone._ " There was charmspeak in Aunt Piper's voice.

"So you're not going to tell us? The words 'Great Prophecy' and 'War of Gaea' will mean nothing but the fact that Luke Castellan remembered his promise in the end and that the seven of you were chosen for a quest to defeat a goddess? That's it?" Zoë sounded like she was going to cry.

Without waiting for a response, she grabbed my hand so roughly my wrist throbbed and ran back to my room. When we got there, she hugged her knees to her chest in the manner of someone who had given up.

"And do you know what?" she turned to me, asking the question again.

"What?"

"Everyone is all the better for it."

"They would be… but that's not how it is. It never can be that way."

"I know." She hung her head helplessly. "But just once I wish we could all be normal. Just for a day, even."

I said nothing but intertwined our ankles again. As Morpheus stole my consciousness, I wondered why Zoë hadn't gone back to her room.

But then again, I decided, I didn't really care.

"Everyone up!" Aunt Piper shouted as Dad's supersonic whistle sounded. My eyes snapped open and I groaned, rolling over and clutching the pillow over my head.

Something shuffled around and there was a _CRASH_ and a lot of cursing. I squinted, sitting up and rubbing my eyes and saw a fully dressed, freshly showered Zoë standing by the bathroom door, holding her foot and jumping up and down.

"Zeus's godsdamned bloody effing toga, why me, why today!"

"That's enough, Zoë." I said, rolling my eyes. "What happened?"

"I dropped a full shampoo bottle on my foot on the way out." She pouted momentarily, then straightened up.

"Well, up and at 'em, Bia! Let's pack."

"Up and at 'em, boy. C'mon, let's get going." I repeated to Helios, who had leapt off the foot of the bed and landed with a raucous _CLANK._ He padded in a circle lazily, stretching like a cat, then hopped back on the bed and promptly flopped into my lap.

I gave Zoë a 'help me' look and she shrugged at me through the mirror, shaking out her curls.

"Lazy boy. Get up, I'll give you barbecue sauce, okay?" He raised his head at me, his glowing black eyes catching the light as he looked at me inquisitively.

I picked him up like a child would pick up a disgruntled cat and kissed the top of his head as I searched through the closet for Road Trip™ clothing (you all know what I'm talking about).

I decided on a pair of sweats and a hoodie. After setting Helios down, I ran into the bathroom to shower. Then I quickly changed and pulled a spare backpack out to start packing my Road Trip™ survival pack.

"It's about time!" Zoë complained as she sat down next to me. "You took forever getting ready. I was hoping you could help me pack my survival bag?"

"Maybe." I shrugged as I threw a few books, some gum, and a pair of earbuds in my bag.

"Come on! All of us know you pack them the best!" she begged.

"Fine." I relented. "But only if you can arrange for us to get the double seats nearest to the door on the left side of your mom's Transit."

Those seats were best because they were huge with a lot of leg room.

"Deal." she agreed, and we shook on it.

"I ran to my room to get some stuff." She explained, pointing to an overflowing bag on top of my bed. "I know the parents already packed jeans and some new Camp shirts, so I brought some stuff for the ride."

I peered over the foot board and pursed my lips almost immediately.

"Zoë…"

Zoë held her hands up quickly. "Now- hold on, I know what you're going to say, but these are all absolute, complete necessities!"

"A chessboard." I pulled the rectangular slab from the bottom of the bag and tossed it on the floor where it landed with a dull _THUD._

"In case we get bored!" Zoë said defensively.

"A flip-sequin pillow?" I sighed and tossed it at her face. Zoë made an undignified noise.

"For _sleeping_ in the _car_." She said, like I was an idiot.

"How the fucking hell did you manage to pack the entire hardcover _Harry Potter_ series in here?" I exclaimed, my biceps straining with the effort it took to haul it out. "Really, Zoë Jackson?"

"That is an absolutely valid item to bring along!" she sputtered, polishing the cover of _The Sorcerer's Stone_ with the hem of her shirt.

"You're supposed to be the _smart_ one out of the two of us!" I turned the bag upside down on the floor and emptied it out. A waterfall of items poured out. I gave Zoë an appraising look and she flipped me the bird.

I rolled my eyes and started sifting through the miscellaneous objects, pulling things out and sorting.

"Okay, so I've gathered a few _real_ necessities." I said after a moment, wiping my forehead. "You can take your bulk package of _Sour Patch_ but not the _Hershey's_ because it's heavier. You want to pack light. You can bring your MP3 player and your headphones, your cell phone, a charger, a neck pillow, and one _Harry Potter_ book."

"Only _one_?" She gave me a horrified look.

"Only one." I repeated calmly. She huffed and I hid a smile.

"Traitor." she muttered. "Godsdamned bloody traitor, how the hell am I related to you?" 

"Well, technically you're _not._ Again, you're supposed to be the smart one." I shrugged and tossed her newly packed, much lighter bag in her direction.

"I'm going to get my shoes." She called over her shoulder, along with a few other obscene things. Once she was gone, I allowed myself a hazy smile and zipped up my backpack.

Setting it down on the bed, I sprinted down to the kitchen to get Helios's bowl and some barbecue sauce. I filled up the bowl and put the bottle back in the pantry, not bothering to say good morning to Papa and Dad when I bumped into them on my way back up. It made my gut pang, but I was still angry at them from last night over their refusal to tell us about their past.

I kicked the bedroom door open and whistled. I wasn't as good as Dad, but I was decent. Helios jogged out of the bathroom and I set the bowl on the floor. After I stroked his head, I picked up a spray bottle filled with cold water and started watering my ivy plant.

I heard a voice I did not recognize from behind me say, "She certainly is Demeter's kid, isn't she, Uncle?"

I whirled around and saw two men, one in black robes and the other in a light yellow _chiton._

Panicking, I swiftly kneed the one in black in the groin. He doubled over onto the floor, hissing and shouting profanity. Breathing heavily, I picked up Zoë's hardcover _Order of the Phoenix_ book and whacked the one in yellow over the head. Hard.

He yelped and clutched his skull, which I seriously hoped was throbbing. I kept beating the book over his head, yelling, "KILL IT WITH FIRE!" Helios looked up from his bowl of barbecue sauce and started snarling, advancing on the two men.

"What the fuck is going on up there?!" Dad shouted from downstairs.

"Yes, I would like to know why you are beating my head in with an obscenely heavy book right now!" The one in yellow screeched as Helios pounced on him.

I elbowed him in the gut and yelled, "THERE ARE TWO CRAZY GUYS IN MY ROOM RIGHT NOW AND I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE BUT I'M OKAY!"

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the man in black try to get to his feet, and I willed the ivy plant to grow. It snared around his ankles and I extended the force to the one in yellow. My arms were getting tired, after all.

" _WHAT_?" several voices screeched at once, and I could hear footsteps thundering in the hall. Within moments, Papa was standing in the doorframe, sword in hand, and Dad was behind him, holding a bow and arrow. He sucked at archery though, so it was sort of pointless.

They stared with what could only be defined as confusion. Finally, Papa dropped his sword and plunked down on the ground.

"Dad, why are you tangled in my daughter's ivy plant?" was all he said, voice muffled by his hands at the same time Dad asked, "Dad, why was my child beating your face in with a book?"

I dropped the book and stared at them incredulously. "These lunatics are your _parents_?"

Papa glanced at me and said dryly, "Yes. The gods Hades and Apollo, Bianca. Now please untangle them from the plant and call your automaton off."

I raised an eyebrow but distended my will and the plant slunk back into its place on the wall. Then I snapped my fingers and Helios reluctantly padded over to my side, nudging my calfs.

Hades brushed himself off with a disgruntled snort.

"We came to speak with our granddaughter, Will. What we did not expect was to be assaulted with a book, captured by a plant, and attacked by that mutt." Apollo cast me an annoyed look.

A moment of silence. And then: 

"I wasn't planning on having anymore kids, anyway." Hades grumbled.

"Oh my gods. Bianca, did you-" Dad gawked at me.

"She did." Apollo supplied.

"Oh my gods…" Papa repeated.

Hades shrugged. "No offense, my boy, but can we please speak to our granddaughter now?"

Papa looked at me, then shrugged. "Behave." He lead Dad out, closing the door gently behind him.

Apollo turned to me. "Now, kiddo, before we say anything, you must promise not to bash my skull in." He gingerly touched his nose, which was beginning to bleed a little. "Just magnificent. My amazing facial structure is going to be disfigured by this inconvenience!"

"It's… it's a nosebleed." I said, confused.

"I know!" he wailed. Hades rolled his eyes.

"Nephew, can we get on with this-" 

"No, no, we cannot, Uncle! This is a _tragedy,_ do you hear me? I feel a haiku coming on."

"Nephew, don't you dare-" Hades panicked, shooting me a 'run for your life' type look.

"Beaten with a book,

Nosebleed given by a mutt,

This child is _trouble._ "

I snorted in disdain. "You got that right, pal." 

"If my _nephew_ is finished with his foolish poetry, let us get down to business." Hades studied the photos I had tacked to the wall of my friends and family. "We hear you are experiencing… trouble, to say the least." 

"Trouble is putting it mildly." I muttered.

"Yes, well, your trouble is not as bad as my nosebleed!" Apollo wailed.

"Dude, grow a pair! You're like, a god! Can't you just swallow some ambrosia or nectar or some shit like that? Cry yourself a river, build a bridge, and _get over it._ " I snapped, rubbing my temples. How was this guy Dad's father?

Apollo stared at me for a long time. "If you were not my grandchild I would smite you." he finally said.

I gave him my best resting bitch face. Hades stepped up and shoved Apollo out of the way.

"Bianca, you now see what an idiot your other grandfather is. May you choose favorites wisely. But that is not the point. You're having trouble, we're here to help."

"You? Help? How?" I scoffed. Gods rarely help. If anything, they cause more trouble. "The only way you could help, Grandfather, is by removing Elijah Shade from the face of this Earth." 

He looked mildly surprised. "A bit extreme, but if that is your wish, then it would be quite simple for me to pull a few strings with the Fates and-"

"Please don't kill anyone." I muttered into my hands.

He sighed as if he didn't quite understand me.

"Listen up, kiddo. We're here to grant you some really awesome powers that your parents have so it would make it easier for you to protect yourself. You are a powerful demigod and there is strife in your future. We're helping, capisce?"

"Capisce, I guess."

"Great. So you can expect the blessing anytime today. The time has to be just right, preferably in front of the whole camp." 

" _What_?" I exclaimed.

"Ignore Apollo. It shouldn't be difficult. I've been doing it for several millennia." Hades' dark eyes bore into mine, but I could detect the faintest sprinkling of amusement in them. "But he is right to some extent. The blessing will be bestowed upon you any time today. It could be right after we leave or at midnight. Any time today, just be ready."

Apollo made an obscene hand gesture. "Uncle, _please,_ shut up.Anyways, other than that we've planted a special weapon for you inside the weaponry shed at the Camp. You'll be able to tell what it is." He paused. "Aside from beating my skull in with a book, you are not so bad. I had developed a certain fondness for demigods the last time I was cast down from Olympus, therefore I am aware of the complex feelings you mortals suffer from. Goodbye, child." He knelt down a little and patted my head twice, and then he was gone.

Hades was left standing there. "So, girl, our business is done. I wish you all the best. After all, you do make my son incredibly, unbelievably happy. Happier than he has been in a long time. And please, if he is reluctant to inform you of his past, it is because he believes it so dark he wishes not to poison your young mind with his happenings. Do not be so hard on him. He will tell you when he finds the time right. Again, all the best to you, child of Demeter. May you not have to reside in my realm for many decades. But let that not stop you from visiting every now and then, hm? Persephone is most keen to meet you, you know." And in a small burst of shadow that drifted the scent of wet soil throughout the attic, he was gone.

Zoë chose that moment to burst into the room, muttering about how her sneakers were _not_ for storing spare gemstones in. Then she noticed the look on my face.

"Oh, yeah. Uncles Nico and Will came downstairs raving about how you started beating Apollo's face in with a book and how you kicked Hades where it hurt. And then you sicced Helios on them and tied them up in your potted ivy." Her nose wrinkled like it always did when she was trying not to smile.

I shoved her gently, mainly because I couldn't think of anything else to do. "Did you pack the canned pineapple rings? You haven't lived until you've drank the juice straight from the can, Zo."

"You are going to tell me _everything,_ Bia. We have time." She gave my shoulder a little push and slung an arm around my shoulders.

 **I wanted to get to them going to Camp but I didn't want this chapter to be too long cause I didn't know whether or not you guys liked long chapters or not.**

 **But seriously. I love the Bianca and Zoë friendship that so many girl cousins share, especially if you have no sisters of your own, like me. I don't mean to sound self centered, but their relationship kind of sums up a relationship that me and my girl cousin have.**


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